{"conversationCode":"336-049","tapeNumber":336,"conversationNumber":49,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-336-049","startDateTime":"1972-05-08T22:09:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-05-08T22:14:00.000Z","startDate":"8-May-1972","startTime":"6:09 PM","endDate":"8-May-1972","endTime":"6:14 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.;","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.","locationCode":"EOB","recordingDevice":"Old Executive Office Building","latitudeEstimated":38.897567,"longitudeEstimated":-77.039147,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 336-49\n\nDate: May 8, 1972\nTime: 6:09 - 6:14 pm\nLocation: Executive Office Building\n\nThe President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.\n\n     Vietnam\n          -President’s speech\n                -Change\n                     -Henry A. Kissinger\n                -Meeting with Congressional leaders\n                -A copy\n          -President’s meeting with Congressional leaders\n                -Time and place\n          -Cabinet\n\nButterfield left at 6:14 pm.","filename":["336-049-splice.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:29:50","tapeEnd":"02:31:13","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Butterfield, Alexander P."],"prevCode":"336-048","nextCode":"336-050","aiSummary":{"text":"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.","topics":["Vietnam War","Presidential speeches","Henry Kissinger","Congressional relations","Cabinet management","White House logistics"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T15:52:59.710Z"},"topicSlugs":["vietnam-war","presidential-speeches","henry-kissinger","congressional-relations","cabinet-management","white-house-logistics"],"audioDurationSec":86,"audioFiles":[{"file":"336-049-splice.mp3","bytes":1373643,"durationSec":86.02,"bitrate":127749,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-10-27T04:37:46.709Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:43:22.411Z","originalFilename":["336a.mp3","336b.mp3","336c.mp3"],"spliceSource":{"spliceType":"bigtape","sourceFiles":["336b.mp3"],"cutStart":8988.5,"cutEnd":9074.5,"adjustedStart":8988.5,"adjustedEnd":9074.5,"boundaryMethod":"llm-alignment","confidence":"high","splicedAt":"2026-10-27T04:37:46.709Z"},"transcript":[{"start":8995.68,"end":8999.02,"text":"There's one thing on my rating page that I have written out."},{"start":8999.06,"end":9009.32,"text":"You may not have written it out here, but it was right for us to write that one out."},{"start":9009.46,"end":9010.92,"text":"I'm sure I will deliver it."},{"start":9010.96,"end":9012.68,"text":"No, not until after it's over."},{"start":9012.84,"end":9014.32,"text":"I didn't have the ability to do that."},{"start":9030.21,"end":9033.69,"text":"That was our responsibility as a break-taking nation, to make sure that America evolved in these five continents."},{"start":9033.75,"end":9042.44,"text":"However, when a nation abandoned all its friends, drove its forearms into battle with their afraid savior, and refused to go shoot, we had to make a new mission."},{"start":9046.8,"end":9056.59,"text":"And these were the chances that the 60,000 American men and women that they would have decided to do the greatest job in this country could possibly achieve."},{"start":9057.94,"end":9064.97,"text":"I was there both to prove and analyze the denial of the weapons supplied by the U.S. Secretary of Defense."},{"start":9064.99,"end":9066.53,"text":"Localization was public and not."},{"start":9066.55,"end":9068.83,"text":"I wanted to follow the majors to be independent."},{"start":9068.91,"end":9075.25,"text":"I wanted to follow the majors, particularly the men and women of the U.S. Secretary of Defense."}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":8990,"end":9073,"startMethod":"llm-alignment","endMethod":"llm-alignment"},"transcriptConfidence":"high","transcriptSource":"bigtape","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/336-049-splice.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/336-049","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/336/conversation-336-049","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}