Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 500 › Conversation 500-005

Nixon & Butterfield on George P. Shultz and Paul W. McCracken

Tuesday, May 18, 1971 · 7:55 AM–7:56 AM ET · Oval Office · 10 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation500-005 on Tape 500 (tape position 00:09:13–00:10:18)StartTuesday, May 18, 1971 at 7:55 AMEndTuesday, May 18, 1971 at 7:56 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 500-005 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417177245 ↗

A 10-second recording. What it contains is described by the archivists' log below; no AI summary is shown for recordings this short.

Audio

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NARA Description

On May 18, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 7:55 am to 7:56 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 500-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 500-5

Date: May 18, 1971
Time: 7:55 am - 7:56 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     George P. Shultz's schedule

           -Paul W. McCracken [?]

Butterfield left at 7:56 am.

                                                                    Conv.
                                                                     Conversation
                                                                          No. 500-34
                                                                                  No.(cont.)
                                                                                      500-6

Date: May 18, 1971
Time: 7:58 am - 8:02 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.

     Strategic Arms Limitation Talks [SALT]
           -William P. Rogers
           -H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
           -Gerard C. Smith
                -Forthcoming Talk with Kissinger
           -Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
                -President's schedule
           -Wording
           -Andrei A. Gromyko, Leonid I. Brezhnev
           -Michael J. (“Mike”) Mansfield amendment
                -Position of [Name unintelligible]
           -Timing
           -Wording
           -Dobrynin

The President and Kissinger left at 8:02 am.

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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Thank you.

Also recorded on May 18, 1971

500-001 7:26 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:26 am and 7:55 am.
500-002 7:26 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:26 am and 7:55 am.
500-003 7:26 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Landrum Bolling met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:26 am and 7:55 am.
500-004 7:26 AM · 31 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 7:26 am and 7:55 am.
500-006 7:58 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 7:58 am to 8:02 am.
058-001 8:02 AM · 1 hr 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Melvin R. Laird, and Republican Congressional leaders, including U. Alexis Johnson, Robert P. Griffin, Norris Cotton, Peter H. Dominick, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, John B. Anderson, Barber B. Conable, Jr., Richard H. Poff, Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, John J. Rhodes, Robert T. Stafford, H. Allen Smith, Robert J. Dole, Peter G. Peterson, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Harry S. Dent, Ronald L. Ziegler, Bryce N. Harlow, and Kenneth E. BeLieu, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 8:02 am to 9:33 am.
500-007 8:02 AM · 34 sec — Alexander P. Butterfield and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:02 am and 9:33 am.
003-058 9:33 AM · 3 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:33 am and 9:34 am.

All 43 conversations from May 18, 1971 →

Nixon & Bull on Economic policy and Paul W. McCracken September 10, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon, McCracken & Houttakker on Henrik S. Houthakker and Economic policy June 28, 1971 · 3 min
Nixon, McCracken & Connally on Economic policy and Unemployment July 22, 1971 · 45 min
Nixon & Ziegler on SALT negotiations and Vietnam War November 23, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon & Bull on George Shultz January 8, 1973 · 7 min
Nixon & Haldeman on Speechwriting and George P. Shultz August 11, 1971 · 1 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 500-005, May 18, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417177245). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/500-005 (accessed November 12, 2026).