Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 461 › Conversation 461-015

Nixon & Butterfield on Press conference briefing and Media relations

Tuesday, March 2, 1971 · 1:27 PM–1:35 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation461-015 on Tape 461 (tape position 02:39:35–02:43:43)StartTuesday, March 2, 1971 at 1:27 PMEndTuesday, March 2, 1971 at 1:35 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 461-015 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met to coordinate the President's upcoming schedule and administrative preparations. The discussion focused on logistical arrangements regarding meetings with astronauts, a visit to the National Aquarium, and the preparation of briefing materials for a presidential press conference. Butterfield also updated the President on coordination efforts with Ronald Ziegler and Patrick Buchanan regarding press deadlines.

Audio

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NARA Description

On March 2, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:27 pm and 1:35 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 461-015 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 461-15

Date: March 2, 1971
Time: 1:27 pm - unknown before 1:35 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield

     [Unintelligible]

     President’s schedule
          -Astronauts
          -National Aquarium
          -Butterfield’s telephone call to Ronald L. Ziegler
                -President’s press conference briefing material
                      -Patrick J. Buchanan
                      -Time
          -Executive Office Building

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 1:35 pm

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 51% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

I don't know what you're talking about.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I think that's what you call the, uh, no, you slip the press conference, uh, the, uh, you slip the deadline of the press conference.

So, uh,

7-3, 7-3, that gives me four more hours before I actually get to 7-3.

The last night is 6-3, before I need the press conference.

So I'm going to get to 7-3, and then I'm going to go over to the O.D.

8-8, I'm going to settle down to 3-3.

Also recorded on March 2, 1971

461-012 12:53 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Peter Heltemes, Jack Heltemes, Mrs. Jack Heltemes, Jack Heltemes, Jr., Holly Heltemes, Robert J. Dole, Robert Young, Mrs. Robert Young, David N. Parker, and George Bill met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:53 pm and 1:07 pm.
049-008 1:07 PM · 52 sec — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 1:07 pm on March 2, 1971 and 8:32 am on March 8, 1971.
049-010 1:07 PM · 1 min — Unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 1:07 pm on March 2, 1971 and 8:32 am on March 8, 1971.
049-011 1:07 PM · 9 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 1:07 pm on March 2, 1971 and 8:32 am on March 8, 1971.
461-013 1:07 PM · 6 sec — unknown person(s) and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:07 pm to 1:08 pm.
461-014 1:08 PM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Kenneth R. Lyons, Charles W. Colson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:08 pm to 1:23 pm.
461-016 1:27 PM · 2 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:27 pm and 1:35 pm.
461-017 1:35 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Marjorie P. Acker, Rose Mary Woods, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:35 pm to 1:42 pm.

All 21 conversations from March 2, 1971 →

Nixon phone call with Butterfield on Cabinet members and Press conference April 29, 1971 · 1 min
Nixon phone call with Butterfield on State dinner and Diplomatic Corps April 6, 1971 · 1 min
Nixon & Butterfield on Senator John Sherman Cooper and Social invitations June 15, 1971 · 1 min
Nixon & Butterfield on souvenirs July 1, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Butterfield on Nobusuke Kishi and Guest list management October 20, 1971 · 5 min
Nixon & Butterfield on Executive office operations October 19, 1971 · 1 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 461-015, March 2, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/461-015 (accessed November 2, 2026).