Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 386 › Conversation 386-003

Nixon & Butterfield on H.R. Haldeman and Presidential desk

Tuesday, December 5, 1972 · 6:29 PM–6:30 PM ET · Old Executive Office Building · 59 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation386-003 on Tape 386StartTuesday, December 5, 1972 at 6:29 PMEndTuesday, December 5, 1972 at 6:30 PMRecording deviceOld Executive Office BuildingSourceNixon Library record for 386-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Butterfield met briefly to coordinate administrative logistics and the President's upcoming schedule. They discussed the arrangements for a meeting with H.R. Haldeman and a reception for California administration officials. Additionally, the pair reviewed the physical placement of furniture and finalized the timing for a document requiring the President’s signature.

White House schedule
H.R. Haldeman
Administrative logistics
Presidential desk
California reception

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.4 MB

NARA Description

On December 5, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 6:29 pm to 6:30 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 386-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 386-3

Date: December 5, 1972
Time: 6:29 pm - 6:30 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

       The President’s schedule
            -Meeting with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
                                              -31-

                    NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                                 Conversation No. 386-3 (cont’d)

       Chair
               -Placement

       The President’s schedule
            -Reception for California administration officials

       Item for the President’s signature
             -Desk
             -Timing

Butterfield left at 6:30 pm.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

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Also recorded on December 5, 1972

386-002 6:20 PM · 22 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:20 pm and 6:29 pm.
034-148 6:30 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 6:30 pm and 6:43 pm.
386-004 6:30 PM · 31 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, White House operator, Tricia Nixon Cox, and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:30 pm and 7:35 pm.
034-026 6:43 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 6:43 pm to 6:44 pm.
386-005 6:44 PM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm.
386-006 6:44 PM · 43 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm.
386-007 6:44 PM · 12 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 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm.
386-008 6:44 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:44 pm and 7:35 pm.

All 55 conversations from December 5, 1972 →

Nixon & Bull on Economic Policy and George P. Shultz April 25, 1973 · 4 min
Nixon, Yates & Bull on Cabinet meetings and George P. Shultz May 1, 1973 · 7 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Cabinet relations April 17, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon & Haldeman on Henry Kissinger and Presidential agenda June 1, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon & Haldeman on Presidential statements and Media relations June 17, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon & Haldeman on Economic policy and George P. Shultz August 16, 1971 · 1 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 386-003, December 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/386-003 (accessed November 13, 2026).