Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 503 › Conversation 503-022

Nixon & Butterfield on Speechwriting and Press relations

Friday, May 21, 1971 · 6:07 PM–6:26 PM ET · Oval Office · 43 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation503-022 on Tape 503 (tape position 04:51:15–04:52:36)StartFriday, May 21, 1971 at 6:07 PMEndFriday, May 21, 1971 at 6:26 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 503-022 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met to review specific materials, including a speech draft and a press conference transcript. The discussion focused on finalizing the text and organization of these documents for upcoming use. No major policy decisions were reached, as the meeting served primarily as an administrative review of White House communications.

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.7 MB

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

1358.
1358.
1358.
That's good.
And that's the first one.

NARA Description

On May 21, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:07 pm and 6:26 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 503-022 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 503-22

Date: May 21, 1971
Time: Unknown between 6:07 pm and 6:26 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     Speech
          -1358 words

     Press conference

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 6:26 pm.

Also recorded on May 21, 1971

  • 503-018 5:58 PM · 36 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:58 pm to 6:00 pm.
  • 503-019 6:00 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:00 pm and 6:04 pm.
  • 503-020 6:04 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:04 pm and 6:26 pm.
  • 503-021 6:07 PM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:07 pm and 6:26 pm.
  • 503-023 6:07 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:07 pm and 6:26 pm.
  • 503-024 6:07 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo, White House operator, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 6:07 pm and 6:34 pm.
  • 003-112 6:26 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 6:26 pm to 6:28 pm.
  • 253-006 6:34 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 6:34 pm and 7:05 pm.

All 40 conversations from May 21, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 503-022, May 21, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/503-022 (accessed October 12, 2026).