Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 336 › Conversation 336-049

Nixon & Butterfield on Vietnam War and Presidential speeches

Monday, May 8, 1972 · 6:09 PM–6:14 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation336-049 onTape 336 (tape position 02:29:50–02:31:13)StartMonday, May 8, 1972 at 6:09 PMEndMonday, May 8, 1972 at 6:14 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 336-049 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to coordinate logistical arrangements following his impending public address regarding the war in Vietnam. The discussion focused on scheduling a briefing with Congressional leaders and finalizing necessary revisions to the speech in consultation with Henry Kissinger. Nixon also reviewed internal administrative preparations, including potential outreach to the Cabinet to ensure a unified response to the updated policy.

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 02:29:50 into the tape and ends around 02:31:13.

Transcript (AI-generated)

No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.

NARA Description

On May 8, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:09 pm to 6:14 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 336-049 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 336-49

Date: May 8, 1972
Time: 6:09 - 6:14 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

                                         (rev. Nov-01)

     Vietnam
          -President’s speech
                -Change
                     -Henry A. Kissinger
                -Meeting with Congressional leaders
                -A copy
          -President’s meeting with Congressional leaders
                -Time and place
          -Cabinet

Butterfield left at 6:14 pm.

Also recorded on May 8, 1972

336-041 5:55 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 5:55 pm and 6:09 pm.
336-050 6:14 PM · 45 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
336-051 6:14 PM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
336-052 6:14 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
336-053 6:14 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 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
336-054 6:14 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
336-055 6:14 PM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:14 pm and 6:22 pm.
336-056 6:22 PM · 10 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:22 pm to 6:34 pm.

All 94 conversations from May 8, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 336-049, May 8, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/336-049 (accessed September 18, 2026).