Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 336 › Conversation 336-006

Nixon & Butterfield on Duke Law School and Event Planning

Friday, May 5, 1972 · 3:30 PM–3:35 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation336-006 on Tape 336 (tape position 00:03:27–00:07:04)StartFriday, May 5, 1972 at 3:30 PMEndFriday, May 5, 1972 at 3:35 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met to finalize logistical details for an upcoming Duke Law School dinner to be hosted at the White House. The discussion focused on event flow, including seating arrangements, venue selection for the pre-dinner cocktail hour, and the designation of the East Room for refreshments. Nixon also established a strict speaking order and duration for guest speakers, specifically limiting remarks by Dean Joseph T. Sneed and Kenneth Rush to three minutes each.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 112.6 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 112.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 49.5 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 00:03:27 into the tape and ends around 00:07:04.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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.
3:45We're going to have about 68 or 70 people on that date.
3:53Yeah.
3:55Just a question on that part of it.
3:58I don't want to get too into it.
4:02We don't want to keep them far home.
4:07We're going to have to put them down.
4:31I'm sorry they're going to have their drinks.
4:37You better have drinks before you put them in the hall.
4:39You sure you can't just have them have their drinks, but each one would make it easier.
4:57Grand Coral's not a place to have drinks.
4:59No, it's not warm.
5:00No, sir.
5:00Yeah.
5:00And I just think you better put them in the east room and have food and everything.
5:09Don't lie about the country.
5:10Have them come and have their drinks for 15 minutes before I get so they can all have it themselves.
5:19You understand?
5:20I do.
5:20So that I don't have to leave.
5:29The Dean of the Wall Street Congress.
6:02Not very many regrets.
6:03Only six regrets so far.
6:05A couple we haven't had.
6:07Let him out.
6:11Let the dean speak.
6:12Let Rush speak.
6:14Rush, as he said to the government, asked him to talk to the chair.
6:21Three minutes.
6:22To the dean, three minutes.
6:26To Rush, three minutes.
6:27Yes, sir.
6:27Thank you.
7:05Well, you had a busy day.

NARA Description

On May 5, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:30 pm to 3:35 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 336-6

Date: May 5, 1972
Time: 3:30 - 3:35 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     Camp David trip
         -Reading material

     President’s schedule
          -Duke Law School dinner
                -Number attending
                -Tables
                -Arrangements
                      -Number attending
                      -Seating
                -Drinks
                      -Grand Hall

                      -East Room
                 -White House photographer
                 -Tables
                      -Meeting with law school dean
                 -Number of regrets
                 -Remarks
                      -[David] Kenneth Rush
                      -Dean Joseph T. Sneed

Butterfield left at 3:35 pm.

Also recorded on May 5, 1972

  • 023-167 3:15 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 3:15 pm and 3:25 pm.
  • 336-001 3:15 PM · 10 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 3:15 pm and 3:25 pm.
  • 023-168 3:25 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 3:25 pm to 3:26 pm.
  • 336-002 3:25 PM · 27 sec — 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 3:25 pm and 3:26 pm.
  • 336-003 3:26 PM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 3:30 pm.
  • 336-004 3:26 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 3:30 pm.
  • 336-005 3:26 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:26 pm and 3:30 pm.
  • 336-007 3:36 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and Rose Mary Woods met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:36 pm to 3:46 pm.

All 54 conversations from May 5, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 336-006, May 5, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/336-006 (accessed October 9, 2026).