Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 494 › Conversation 494-009

Nixon & Butterfield on Public opinion and Political image

Saturday, May 8, 1971 · 1:55 PM–2:40 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation494-009 on Tape 494 (tape position 03:09:38–03:12:22)StartSaturday, May 8, 1971 at 1:55 PMEndSaturday, May 8, 1971 at 2:40 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 494-009 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield discussed the administration's political image and the public's perception of his leadership style. Nixon emphasized the necessity of projecting strength and decisiveness to counter narratives of weakness, particularly in relation to domestic policy and law and order. The conversation underscored Nixon's ongoing preoccupation with public opinion polls and the challenge of navigating political optics amidst critical media coverage.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.7 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 106.9 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 03:09:38 into the tape and ends around 03:12:22.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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3:09:38They will discuss it in such a way, an image of indecisiveness and weak leadership.
3:09:45The bad kind of began to come at this point.
3:09:49But the nation wants strong, firm, decisive leadership.
3:09:56That is exactly what we have been providing both foreign and domestic policy to do to our own.
3:10:05Acres.
3:10:06Coupled with, uh, very skillful operation.
3:10:12Press.
3:10:14I remember a year ago, you were surprised, you know, that despite everything I had said on law and order, that the polls had cheated.
3:10:26But Teddy Kennedy was stronger on law and order than I was.
3:10:31That's the kind of problem we have today.
3:10:35With the possible exception.
3:10:39Where, of course,
3:10:42The issue is mostly devised to be strong, almost as many negatives as it can positives, although less than the greatest mistake to be, as far as public opinion is concerned.

NARA Description

On May 8, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:55 pm and 2:40 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 494-009 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 494-9

Date: May 8, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:55 pm and 2:40 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     President's memorandum
          -Delivery to H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman

     [Signing documents]

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 2:40 pm.

Also recorded on May 8, 1971

  • 494-004 10:33 AM · 2 hr 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, John D. Ehrlichman, White House operator, and John N. Mitchell met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:33 am to 1:12 pm.
  • 002-124 11:45 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:45 am and 11:49 am.
  • 002-125 11:49 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 11:49 am to 11:51 am.
  • 494-005 1:12 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:12 pm and 1:35 pm.
  • 494-006 1:35 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:35 pm and 1:40 pm.
  • 494-007 1:50 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:50 pm and 1:55 pm.
  • 494-008 1:55 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:55 pm and 2:40 pm.
  • 002-126 2:40 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 2:40 pm and 6:50 pm.

All 13 conversations from May 8, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 494-009, May 8, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/494-009 (accessed October 3, 2026).