Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 258 › Conversation 258-039

Nixon & Butterfield on Alexander Haig

Wednesday, June 23, 1971 · 2:45 PM–2:46 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 46 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation258-039 on Tape 258 (tape position 01:00:40–01:01:25)StartWednesday, June 23, 1971 at 2:45 PMEndWednesday, June 23, 1971 at 2:46 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 258-039 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417183943 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met briefly with Alexander P. Butterfield to coordinate the scheduling of General Alexander M. Haig, Jr. The discussion focused on determining Haig's current location and integrating him into the President's immediate agenda. No major policy decisions were reached during this short logistical exchange.

Audio

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NARA Description

On June 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 258-039 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 258-39

Date: June 23, 1971
Time: 2:45 pm - 2:46 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield

     President’s schedule
          -General Alexander M. Haig, Jr.’s request

[The President talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 2:46
pm]

[Conversation No. 258-39A]

     Haig’s location
[End of telephone conversation]

[The President talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 2:45 pm and 2:46
pm]

[Conversation No. 258-39B]

     Haig’s schedule

[End of telephone conversation]

Butterfield left at 2:46 pm

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

There's a pig out there.
Yeah, okay.

Also recorded on June 23, 1971

  • 005-139 2:39 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, F. Edward Hébert, and Melvin R. Laird talked on the telephone from 2:39 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 258-038 2:39 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and F. Edward Hébert met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:39 pm to 2:44 pm.
  • 005-140 2:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Pierre S. DuPont talked on the telephone from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 258-040 2:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Pierre S. DuPont met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:45 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 005-141 2:46 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles S. Gubser talked on the telephone from 2:46 pm to 2:48 pm.
  • 258-041 2:46 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles S. Gubser met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:46 pm to 2:48 pm.
  • 258-042 2:48 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Garry E. Brown met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:48 pm to 3:04 pm.
  • 005-142 2:51 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Garry E. Brown talked on the telephone from 2:51 pm to 2:52 pm.

All 50 conversations from June 23, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 258-039, June 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417183943). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/258-039 (accessed November 2, 2026).