Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 524 › Conversation 524-017

Nixon, de Guigne & Butterfield on Bohemian Grove and Presidential travel

Thursday, June 17, 1971 · 12:06 PM–12:11 PM ET · Oval Office · 7 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; DeGuigne, Christian, III; de Guigne, Christian, IV; White House photographerConversation524-017 on Tape 524 (tape position 02:22:41–02:29:40)StartThursday, June 17, 1971 at 12:06 PMEndThursday, June 17, 1971 at 12:11 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 524-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon held a brief, informal meeting with Alexander P. Butterfield and guests Christian de Guigne III and IV to exchange gifts and engage in light social conversation. The discussion covered the security challenges associated with potential presidential travel, including a proposed visit to Bohemian Grove, and touched upon regional politics and professional Bay Area sports, specifically the performance of Vida Blue and the San Francisco Giants. The meeting concluded after the presentation of commemorative gifts featuring the presidential seal.

Audio

Download MP3 · 16.0 MB

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 3 minutes of this recording (about 49% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Bye.
I'm just trying to think when I saw that you were coming in.
We were in New York at that time.
That wasn't too late.
I never did that.
I never did that.
I never did that.
I never did that.
I never did that.
I never did that.
I never did that.
I never did that.
I never did that.
We don't want to take any of your time.
I just thought, having seen you on a few occasions, having known you, especially that terrible breakfast at the Mock House, you were a woman.
I was tired.
I just thought I didn't want you to take the chance just to be like this.
I wouldn't want to be here, though, in this house, in this room, without you in my life.
I think back to the, I mean, I think we would have had 19 members of the society, or not, 34, but he would have been, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
Old Burg, all the rest of you, you got a few of us, you got a few of us, you got a few of us, you got a few of us, you got a few of us, you got a few of us,
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
If I came, it would not be fun for the group with all the security.
That's right.
I would not be here.
As long as I can, that's it.
But you see, you cannot go without communications.
You've got to have an iron line.
Well, you've got to.
One of the things I wanted to say to you, and I'm not trying, I'm just so glad you're coming in.
I want to give you a couple of words.
These are just tiny things for you.
These are the presidents of government.
You do know this room has the same thing as your floor house.
Here it is.
Here's one for you.
Oh, what's that doing in the hole?
Yeah, here's one.
I think, uh, uh, Secretary?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
I haven't said a thing to you.
There's nothing on it, but we're going to go there.
This is, this is...
i i i always
This is a, uh, that's the, uh, that's his little contract with the President's seal.
The way people like it, you know.
Now, all of you, both of you, you are your brothers and sisters.
See, it has to seal.
That's a little, uh, that's the main signature.
I always, I always make things to suit conscience.
One, I never give a dang of these.
The other, the other is, you can go buy it, go get it, I'll have it.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
I'd love to have something of this fun, social, not just a protocol, but constantly.
Oh, that city?
Everybody loves it.
They all want to go there.
They all want to go there.
Everybody remembers about the United Nations.
You know, it's supposed to be good for them.
The second choice is San Francisco.
Well, you're doing pretty well with the Giants.
I don't know how amazing the game is.
The amazing thing is the guys got so many.
He's got the number under six hits.
He's about ten games.
He's got a little bit more.
I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him.
I haven't seen him.
He's hitting home runs all over the place.
You know, when a team goes well, they make everything.
Well, Mr. President, thank you so much.
We'll send you copies.
Thank you for coming.

NARA Description

On June 17, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Christian deGuigne, III, Christian deGuigne, IV, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:06 pm to 12:11 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 524-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 524-17

Date: June 17, 1971
Time: 12:06 pm - 12:11 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield, Christian de Guigne III, and Christian de
Guigne IV; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of meeting.

     Greetings

     President's trip to New York

     Photographs

     Politics
           -Dwight D. Eisenhower campaigns
           -Aldo Ray ?
           -[First name unknown] Dolan [?]
           -Bohemian Grove
                 -Return trip
                      -Security problems

     Presentation of gifts
          -Cuff links
          -Compact

     Presidents schedule
           -Previous meeting with Donald McI. Kendall
           -Possible trip to San Francisco, California

     Professional sports
          -Baseball
                -San Francisco Giants
                      -Performance
          -Football
                -San Francisco 49'ers
          -Baseball
                -Oakland Athletics
                      -Vida Blue
                            -Performance

                        -Mike Epstein
                             -Performance

      Appreciation

Butterfield, et al. left at 12:11 pm.

Also recorded on June 17, 1971

  • 524-016 12:03 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 12:06 pm.
  • 524-018 12:12 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:12 pm.
  • 524-019 12:12 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John L. McClellan, Clark MacGregor, Stephen B. Bull, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:12 pm to 12:17 pm.
  • 524-020 12:18 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:18 pm.
  • 524-021 12:18 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Wendell Wyatt, Clark MacGregor, Stephen B. Bull, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:18 pm to 12:22 pm.
  • 524-022 12:22 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, White House operator, and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:22 pm to 12:46 pm.
  • 524-023 12:46 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:46 pm and 2:41 pm.
  • 524-030 12:46 PM · 1 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:46 pm and 2:41 pm.

All 75 conversations from June 17, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 524-017, June 17, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/524-017 (accessed October 23, 2026).