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
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
Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 67.0 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:12:58 into the tape and ends around 00:14:22.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.
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.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 · 30 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 · 8 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 · 15 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 · 55 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.
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 September 18, 2026).