Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 274 › Conversation 274-008
Nixon & Butterfield on Speechwriting and Arthur F. Burns
Monday, August 16, 1971 · 2:49 PM–2:54 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 1 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to coordinate administrative logistics regarding his immediate schedule and upcoming engagements. The discussion centered on managing arrivals for a meeting at the State Department, specifically involving Arthur F. Burns and George P. Shultz, as well as the status of speech drafts being prepared by William L. Safire. Butterfield was tasked with overseeing these appointments and ensuring the necessary materials were ready for the President's review.
Audio
This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.
Listen to the full tape segment
Position in tape: 00:12:58 – 00:14:22
part A, 13:04
NARA Description
On August 16, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 274-008 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 274-8
Date: August 16, 1971
Time: Unknown between 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.
The President's schedule
-Unknown persons’ arrival
-William L. Safire
-Forthcoming meeting at State Department
-Departure
-Arthur F. Burns
-George P. Shultz
-Speech drafts
-Safire
Butterfield left at an unknown time before 2:54 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Each line starts with a timestamp button; press it to play the audio from that point.
Also recorded on August 16, 1971
- 274-005 2:40 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:40 pm to 2:43 pm.
- 274-006 2:43 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at 2:43 pm.
- 274-048 2:43 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:43 pm to 2:44 pm.
- 274-007 2:44 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William L. Safire met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:44 pm to 2:49 pm.
- 274-009 2:49 PM · 12 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 2:49 pm and 2:54 pm.
- 274-010 2:54 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:54 pm to 2:58 pm.
- 274-011 2:59 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Robert H. Finch met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:59 pm to 3:01 pm.
- 274-012 3:01 PM · 59 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:01 pm and 3:05 pm.
Related conversations
- Nixon & Butterfield on William Safire March 10, 1971 · 2 min
- Nixon phone call with Shultz on Gross National Product and Economic policy May 12, 1971 · 4 min
- Nixon & Bull on Documentation and William L. Safire February 17, 1972 · 3 min
- Nixon phone call with Shultz on Face the Nation and Economic indicators January 30, 1972 · 3 min
- Nixon, Haldeman & Ehrlichman on Domestic Council and Economic Policy March 18, 1971 · 45 min
- Nixon & Ehrlichman on John Connally and Arthur Burns February 15, 1972 · 6 min
Cite this conversation
Conversation 274-008, August 16, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/274-008 (accessed November 2, 2026).