Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 495 › Conversation 495-012

Butterfield on Oval Office operations and White House administration

Friday, May 7, 1971 · 11:48 AM–11:56 AM ET · Oval Office ·26 sec

ParticipantsButterfield, Alexander P.;  [Unknown person(s)]Conversation495-012 onTape 495 (tape position 00:58:42–01:00:16)StartFriday, May 7, 1971 at 11:48 AMEndFriday, May 7, 1971 at 11:56 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 495-012 ↗

AI Summary

Alexander P. Butterfield met with unidentified individuals in the Oval Office to discuss administrative or logistical matters. The brief encounter, lasting less than eight minutes, includes a segment that remains restricted under federal statute. Due to the absence of a transcript and the existence of a withdrawn segment, no further details regarding specific decisions or directives are available.

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.0 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.

NARA Description

On May 7, 1971, Alexander P. Butterfield and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:48 am and 11:56 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 495-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 495-12

Date: May 7, 1971
Time: Unknown between 11:48 am and 11:56 am
Location: Oval Office
Alexander P. Butterfield met with an unknown person

**********************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Previous PRMPA Federal Statute (A) withdrawal reviewed 12/18/2019. Segment will remain
closed.]
[Federal Statute]
[495-012-w001]
[Duration: 26s]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

**********************************************************************

Butterfield and the unknown person left at an unknown time before 11:56 am.

Also recorded on May 7, 1971

  • 495-010 11:45 AM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:45 am and 11:48 am.
  • 056-003 11:48 AM · 2 min — during the signing of the Telephone Bank Bill [S. 70], President Richard M. Nixon, Robert J. Dole, Jack R. Miller, Herman E. Talmadge, Ancher Nelsen, Alvin E. O'Konski, William R. Poage, Robert D. Price, Garner Shriver, Vernon W. Thomson, Clifford M. Hardin, J. Philip Campbell, Thomas K. Cowden, William E. Galbraith, David A. Hamil, Everett C. Weitzell, James R. Wright, Harold C. Ebaugh, Warren B. French, Jr., Adm. William C. Mott, David C. Fullarton, Ross Heller, Eldon M. Snowden, Harold G. Payne, A. Harold Peterson, Hyde Murray, John C. Whitaker, Richard K. Cook, Max L. Friedersdorf, and press photographers met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:48 am and 11:56 am.
  • 495-011 11:48 AM · 1 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:48 am and 11:56 am.
  • 495-013 11:56 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:56 am and 11:58 am.
  • 495-014 11:58 AM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, Stephen B. Bull, Herbert G. Klein, Bob Murphy, Robert Rosenthal, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:58 am to 12:17 pm.
  • 495-015 12:17 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:17 pm and 12:19 pm.
  • 495-016 12:19 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, W. Richard Howard, Marcis Howard, and Mr. Northrup met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:19 pm to 12:20 pm.
  • 495-017 12:20 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:20 pm and 12:26 pm.

All 48 conversations from May 7, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 495-012, May 7, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/495-012 (accessed September 18, 2026).