Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 316 › Conversation 316-010

Nixon & Butterfield on Vietnam speech and Talking points

Tuesday, January 25, 1972 · 4:35 PM–4:36 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 47 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation316-010 on Tape 316 (tape position 02:05:11–02:05:55)StartTuesday, January 25, 1972 at 4:35 PMEndTuesday, January 25, 1972 at 4:36 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 316-010 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Butterfield briefly discussed talking points for Nixon's upcoming Vietnam speech. Nixon also asked Butterfield to check on who attended a three o'clock briefing and to relay information regarding a memorandum for William P. Rogers to John Connally. The conversation concluded with Nixon inquiring about the evening's menu.

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.7 MB

This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

Listen to the full tape segment

Position in tape: 02:05:11 – 02:05:55

part B, 2:49

316a.mp3
316b.mp3

NARA Description

On January 25, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 4:35 pm to 4:36 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 316-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 316-10

Date: January 25, 1972
Time: 4:35 pm - 4:36 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     The President's forthcoming Vietnam speech
          -Talking points

     Memorandum for William P. Rogers
        -John B. Connally [?]

     Menu

Butterfield left at 4:36 pm.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

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).

ButterfieldYes, sir.
NixonAlex, I just made these notes—you might want to throw—they might help [unintelligible] write talking points. Also, who had the meeting at three o'clock on this?
ButterfieldUh, at three o'clock?
NixonBriefing [unintelligible]. Who did he see?
ButterfieldLet me see what the schedule was, sir.
NixonCheck [unintelligible] Rogers. Also, give that to John Connally.
ButterfieldYes, sir.
NixonThe—the menu for tonight, what is it?
ButterfieldI don't know, but I'll find out.
Nixon[unintelligible] and check with me. Okay.
ButterfieldYes, sir.

Also recorded on January 25, 1972

  • 019-059 4:36 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
  • 316-011 4:36 PM · 1 min — 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 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
  • 316-012 4:36 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
  • 316-013 4:36 PM · 15 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
  • 316-014 4:36 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 4:36 pm and 5:30 pm.
  • 019-060 5:30 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 5:30 pm to 5:32 pm.
  • 316-015 5:30 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 5:30 pm to 5:32 pm.
  • 316-016 5:32 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:32 pm and 6:32 pm.

All 55 conversations from January 25, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 316-010, January 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/316-010 (accessed November 11, 2026).