Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 557 › Conversation 557-005

Nixon, Shultz & Butterfield on Oval Office operations

Monday, August 9, 1971 · 12:02 PM–12:04 PM ET · Oval Office · 37 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Shultz, George P.; Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation557-005 on Tape 557 (tape position 03:09:20–03:10:19)StartMonday, August 9, 1971 at 12:02 PMEndMonday, August 9, 1971 at 12:04 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 557-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, George Shultz, and Alexander Butterfield met briefly in the Oval Office to coordinate logistics regarding the President's schedule. The conversation focused on the arrival of a bicycle and the necessity of follow-up communication. The participants concluded the meeting quickly to attend to these immediate administrative tasks.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Or did you get any dog in order to leave here?
Okay, hold tight.
Hey, jerk, I'll call you.
Jerk, I'll call you right back.
I gotta go see if the bicycle's here.
Damn it.
You're gonna call me on this?
Well, there's this boy.
I know him.
I wanted to see him right up.

NARA Description

On August 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, George P. Shultz, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:02 pm to 12:04 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 557-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 557-005

Date: August 9, 1971
Time: 12:02 pm - 12:04 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with George P. Shultz.

[See Conversation No. 7-78]

Alexander P. Butterfield entered at 12:03 pm.

[End of telephone conversation]

     President's schedule
           -Cyclemates II

The President and Butterfield left at 12:04 pm.

       Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, NARA Online Public Access Catalog Identifier: 597542

Also recorded on August 9, 1971

  • 557-002 11:47 AM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:47 am and 11:59 am.
  • 557-003 11:59 AM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:59 am to 12:02 pm.
  • 007-078 12:02 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and George P. Shultz talked on the telephone from 12:02 pm to 12:03 pm.
  • 557-004 12:02 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:02 pm.
  • 557-006 12:04 PM · 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 12:04 pm and 12:55 pm.
  • 272-001 12:55 PM · 4 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:55 pm and 1:48 pm.
  • 272-002 12:55 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:55 pm and 1:48 pm.
  • 272-003 12:55 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:55 pm and 1:48 pm.

All 38 conversations from August 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 557-005, August 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/557-005 (accessed October 9, 2026).