Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 32 › Conversation 032-038

Nixon phone call with Butterfield on Campaign Strategy and Radio Addresses

Wednesday, October 25, 1972 · 2:30 PM–2:32 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation032-038 on Tape 32StartWednesday, October 25, 1972 at 2:30 PMEndWednesday, October 25, 1972 at 2:32 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 032-038 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield coordinate the President's upcoming schedule to prioritize a campaign trip to Kentucky and ensure the completion of pending administrative and media tasks. Nixon instructs Butterfield to shift minor obligations to Friday and expresses frustration over delays in receiving prepared texts for his farm and urban radio addresses. To address these bottlenecks, the President demands immediate action on scripts and suggests potentially recording radio spots as early as that afternoon.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Mr. Butterfield, sir.

Do you have the farm speech yet?

No, I do not.

Well, you'll have to jack them up on that because I had forgotten when I told you about doing events on Thursday.

I can't do too much because I have to prepare for Kentucky.

Right.

Yes, sir.

So anything of those odds and ends, you told me, shift them to Friday rather than Thursday.

Now, the other thing that I need...

I know that we've got to do a couple of television films.

What do you have on Thursday at the moment, do you know?

Good morning, just a second.

We were going to have Gilroy Roberts come in and look at you for five minutes, remember that?

Friday, Friday.

You'd rather have that on Friday?

Sure, anything like that.

I want done any of the odds and ends I said, just put them on Friday, okay?

He's here anyway, isn't he?

Does he come into town or is he here already?

I think he's coming in from outside.

But then have him come Friday.

If he comes Thursday, I'll do it then.

But all odds and ends should be Friday that we can possibly have.

And the only other thing we have is this blunt box filming tomorrow at 9 o'clock.

Tomorrow morning.

Yes, sir.

That's tomorrow at 9.

And greeting Russ Train's two new members.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Hell no, that can be.

Friday, of course.

All right.

Yeah, there's no problem on shifting that.

Yeah.

Well, we'll just leave the blunt bogs filming.

Blunt bogs things should be done.

Now, what about the radio spots for candidates?

Has anybody spoken to you about those?

I'm not up to date on it.

Well, you better find out.

Yeah, the radio spots.

I was supposed to do a lot of radio spots.

Oh, about eight of them?

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

What about it?

When have you got those on for?

We're getting a schedule from Haldeman on that, so I don't have it yet, sir.

Well, they better do them Friday then.

At the present time, the way the thing's piling up here.

All right.

And you want that farm radio speech.

But the farm radio, I'll have to get over here.

They should have it done.

They were supposed to have it last night.

So I can look at it, and I'm going to do that Friday now, and I'm going to do a city speech on Saturday.

So they've got to get off their ass and get them both to me as quickly as they can.

All right.

All right, sir.

Check up on them.

Yeah, I will, and report back.

Now, on the radio things, if they can get them ready, I could do some of those this afternoon.

Mm-hmm.

See?

Yeah.

If they just get the, if they can.

They've been working on it for a month.

They should have it done.

Yeah, well, it's a very short, 103-word script.

I know, I know.

Well, they should have them, and Price is supposed to have them.

So if they can get those, I'll start doing those this afternoon.

Okay.

All right.

Okay.

All right.

Mm-hmm.

NARA Description

On October 25, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 2:30 pm to 2:32 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 032-038 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 032-038

Date: October 25, 1972
Time: 2:30 pm - 2:32 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Alexander P. Butterfield.

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

[See Conversation No. 372-30]

        The President's forthcoming radio address on the American farmer, October 27
            -Text
                -Completion

        The President's schedule
            -Kentucky visit
            -Changes
            -Television films
            -Gilroy Roberts
                 -Schedule

Butterfield conferred with an unknown woman at an unknown time between 2:30 and 2:32 pm.

[End of conferral]

        The President's schedule
            -Change
                -Filming of a meeting with William M. Blount and J. Caleb Boggs
                -Russell E. Train's staff
                     -Change
                -Blount-Boggs meeting
            -Radio talks
                -Number

Butterfield conferred with an unknown woman at an unknown time between 2:30 pm and 2:32
pm.

                 -Haldeman's scheduling
             -Forthcoming farm speech
                 -Text
                 -Date
             -Urban speech
                 -Completion
             -Radio speeches
                 -The President's review
                 -Completion

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

                       -Raymond K. Price, Jr.

Also recorded on October 25, 1972

372-030 2:30 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:30 pm to 2:32 pm.
372-031 2:50 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:50 pm to 2:53 pm.
032-039 2:53 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:53 pm and 3:03 pm.
372-032 2:53 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:53 pm and 3:03 pm.
372-033 2:53 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:53 pm and 3:03 pm.
032-040 3:03 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull talked on the telephone from 3:03 pm to 3:04 pm.
372-034 3:03 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:03 pm to 3:04 pm.
032-041 3:04 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:04 pm and 3:05 pm.

All 59 conversations from October 25, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 032-038, October 25, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/032-038 (accessed October 9, 2026).