Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 274 › Conversation 274-012
Nixon & Butterfield on Economic policy and Alexander M. Haig Jr.
Monday, August 16, 1971 · 3:01 PM–3:05 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building
AI Summary
President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met to coordinate the logistics and scheduling for an upcoming high-level meeting at the State Department. The discussion focused on confirming the attendance of key economic advisors, including John B. Connally, Arthur F. Burns, and Paul W. McCracken, and addressing gaps in the briefing materials. Butterfield assisted the President in refining departure times and initiating a follow-up call to Alexander M. Haig, Jr. to ensure administrative preparations were finalized.
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 00:18:58 into the tape and ends around 00:19:53.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 3:01 pm and 3:05 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 274-012 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 274-12
Date: August 16, 1971
Time: Unknown between 3:01 pm and 3:05 pm
Location: Executive Office Building
The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.
The President's schedule
-Forthcoming meeting at State Department
-Departure time
-John B. Connally
-Arthur F. Burns
-Paul W. McCracken
-Call to Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
Butterfield left at an unknown time before 3:05 pm.Also recorded on August 16, 1971
- 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.
- 274-007 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.
- 274-008 2:49 PM · 1 min — 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.
- 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.
- 274-013 3:01 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:01 pm and 3:37 pm.
- 274-014 3:01 PM · 11 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 3:01 pm and 3:37 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 274-012, 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/274-012 (accessed September 18, 2026).