Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 555 › Conversation 555-007

Nixon, Butterfield & Bull on Economic policy and Cabinet relations

Thursday, August 5, 1971 · 2:40 PM–3:13 PM ET · Oval Office ·3 min

ParticipantsButterfield, Alexander P.; Bull, Stephen B.; Nixon, Richard M. (President)Conversation555-007 onTape 555 (tape position 02:20:57–02:25:04)StartThursday, August 5, 1971 at 2:40 PMEndThursday, August 5, 1971 at 3:13 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 555-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, Alexander Butterfield, and Stephen Bull met to coordinate the distribution of an economic fact sheet to Cabinet members. They discussed administrative logistics and timelines regarding these materials, specifically noting the roles of Charles Colson and Secretary John A. Volpe. The discussion focused on ensuring consistent communication of economic statistics across the administration to avoid redundancy or conflicting statements.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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The judge told me to get some stuff out of this academy, and I reached in, and it was discussed in the academy, which I did, with his 45 minutes after we adjourned.

Now he's called.

Colson did the same thing.

Colson.

And that isn't happening to you.

We could be doing it twice.

I could have said I didn't want to happen, but no.

When's the break for us to stop and see if we need more?

Thank you.

So the thing is, she wanted to go to the casket members.

Did go out at about 1 o'clock today.

He said he'd already sent it.

What did you find?

What'd you get?

I got his statement from the department.

That?

The other?

Yeah, the Mr. Paul Jones statistics that he quoted this morning.

You got the right way to vote in it.

NARA Description

On August 5, 1971, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, and President Richard M. Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:40 pm and 3:13 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 555-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 555-7

Date: August 5, 1971
Time: Unknown after 2:40 pm until 3:13 pm
Location: Oval Office

Alexander P. Butterfield met with an unknown person [Stephen B. Bull?].

     Economic fact sheet
         -Cabinet officers
               -Meeting
         -Charles W. Colson

     Assignment

The unknown person [Bull?] left at an unknown time before 3:13 pm.

     [Pause]
The President entered at an unknown time after 2:40 pm.

             -Distribution to Cabinet members
                   -Timing
                   -Colson
                   -John A. Volpe

The President and Butterfield left at 3:13 pm.

Also recorded on August 5, 1971

555-019 12:35 PM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:35 pm to 12:36 pm.
555-004 1:13 PM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:13 pm and 1:15 pm.
555-005 1:15 PM · 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles H. Percy, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, William Brock, M. A. Henderson, W. R. Davenport, Robert A. Taft, Jr., Alexander P. Butterfield, Zachery Williams, Mrs. John C. Williams, Paul E. Funk, David Gilbert, Morris Semiatin, Charles S. Gubser, Philip Schuyler, Lawrence G. Williams, Mrs. Lawrence G. Williams, Marie A. Boyer, Marie A. Simmonds, Silvio O. Conte, Mrs. Wilfred S. Hitchcock, Mrs. George Voskly, Hugh K. Ferry, Joseph F. Mattis, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:15 pm to 1:46 pm.
555-006 1:46 PM · 54 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Manolo Sanchez, Stephen B. Bull, and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:46 pm to 2:40 pm.
555-008 3:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:21 pm and 3:23 pm.
555-009 3:23 PM · 1 hr 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon, George W. Romney, John B. Connally, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Peter M. Flanigan, and Paul W. McCracken met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:23 pm to 4:35 pm.
555-010 4:35 PM · 39 min — President Richard M. Nixon, James L. Buckley, John N. Mitchell, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:35 pm to 5:16 pm.
555-011 5:16 PM · 11 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:16 pm and 5:22 pm.

All 20 conversations from August 5, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 555-007, August 5, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/555-007 (accessed September 18, 2026).