Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 456 › Conversation 456-003

Nixon & Butterfield on News Summary and Economic Policy

Tuesday, February 23, 1971 · 9:46 AM–9:48 AM ET · Oval Office ·39 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation456-003 onTape 456 (tape position 00:04:39–00:05:51)StartTuesday, February 23, 1971 at 9:46 AMEndTuesday, February 23, 1971 at 9:48 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 456-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield discussed the handling of marked-up news summaries, specifically regarding the President's personal annotations and feedback. The conversation focused on integrating these presidential comments into forthcoming economic briefings involving John B. Connally, Paul W. McCracken, and George P. Shultz. Nixon emphasized the importance of ensuring these insights were conveyed during relevant meetings, including an afternoon session concerning the trucking industry.

Audio

Download MP3 · 0.9 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Click a timestamp to play from that point.

On that news story, I marked a couple of things, and I want you to be sure to get that every time I do it, because some of it may be very current.
We did one in particular with regard to the economy, though there's a trucking meeting this afternoon.
I want to be sure to probably crack it and show it.
We generally move that set away.
Yeah, well, I just want to hear that.

NARA Description

On February 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:46 am to 9:48 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 456-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 456-3

Date: February 23, 1971
Time: 9:46 am - 9:48 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield

     News summary
         -Alterations
               -President’s comments
               -Effect of forthcoming economic meeting
               -John B. Connally
               -Paul W. McCracken
               -George P. Shultz

Butterfield left at 9:48 am

Also recorded on February 23, 1971

  • 456-002 9:42 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:42 am to 9:44 am.
  • 456-004 9:54 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:54 am to 9:55 am.
  • 456-005 10:05 AM · 1 hr 36 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, unknown person(s), John D. Ehrlichman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Henry A. Kissinger, Manolo Sanchez, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:05 am to 11:30 am.
  • 456-006 11:30 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:30 am and 11:36 am.
  • 456-007 11:36 AM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Milton R. Young, Mark Andrews, Lee W. Huebner, unknown person(s), and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:36 am to 11:48 am.
  • 456-008 11:48 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:48 am.
  • 456-009 11:49 AM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John R. ("Jack") Williams, Jr., John D. Ehrlichman, Lee W. Huebner, White House photographer, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:49 am to 12:02 pm.
  • 456-010 12:02 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Waters, Jr., Patsy (Temple) Waters, Cynthia Waters, John B. Waters, III, John D. Ehrlichman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Lee W. Huebner, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:02 pm to 12:06 pm.

All 27 conversations from February 23, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 456-003, February 23, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/456-003 (accessed September 18, 2026).