{"conversationCode":"488-002","tapeNumber":488,"conversationNumber":2,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-488-002","startDateTime":"1971-04-26T12:22:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1971-04-26T13:00:00.000Z","startDate":"26-Apr-1971","startTime":"8:22 AM","endDate":"26-Apr-1971","endTime":"9:00 AM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Butterfield, Alexander P.; Bull, Stephen B.;","description":"On April 26, 1971, Alexander P. Butterfield and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:22 am and 9:00 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 488-002 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":1,"chronRelease":"First Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"5-Oct-1999","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 488-2\n\nDate: April 26, 1971\nTime: Unknown between 8:22 am and 9:00 am\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nAlexander P. Butterfield met with Stephen B. Bull.\n\n     Buzzes from the President\n\n     President's location\n\n     Buzzes from the President\n\n     Bull's activities\n\nButterfield and Bull left at an unknown time before 9:00 am.","filename":["488-002.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:00:48","tapeEnd":"00:05:46","participantsList":["Butterfield, Alexander P.","Bull, Stephen B."],"prevCode":"488-001","nextCode":"488-003","transcript":[{"start":2.02,"end":9.34,"text":"I didn't get three buzzers."},{"start":9.36,"end":14.16,"text":"I don't think I have to reason that."},{"start":14.18,"end":15.57,"text":"I know you understand."},{"start":15.59,"end":15.83,"text":"I know that."},{"start":15.85,"end":16.23,"text":"That's what I said."},{"start":16.25,"end":16.79,"text":"I didn't get three buzzers."},{"start":17.61,"end":19.73,"text":"I could hear it out in the hall."},{"start":19.75,"end":19.97,"text":"Pretty bad."},{"start":19.99,"end":20.19,"text":"Excuse me."},{"start":20.21,"end":20.9,"text":"Pretty bad that we didn't hear it."},{"start":20.92,"end":21.2,"text":"What was that?"},{"start":21.22,"end":21.62,"text":"I don't see it."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"Alexander P. Butterfield and Stephen B. Bull met to troubleshoot technical malfunctions regarding the presidential buzzer system in the Oval Office. The participants expressed frustration over their failure to hear or respond to multiple signals from the President. They discussed the audible range of the system and acknowledged the operational implications of missing these alerts.","topics":["Presidential communication","White House operations","Technical malfunction","Alexander P. Butterfield","Stephen B. Bull"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-06T21:54:37.261Z"},"topicSlugs":["presidential-communication","white-house-operations","technical-malfunction","alexander-p-butterfield","stephen-b-bull"],"audioDurationSec":28,"audioFiles":[{"file":"488-002.mp3","bytes":1126191,"durationSec":28.02,"bitrate":321542,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:48.989Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/488-002.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/488-002","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/488/conversation-488-002","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}