Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 558 › Conversation 558-004

Nixon & Butterfield on White House logistics and Public relations

Monday, August 9, 1971 · 4:29 PM–4:33 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation558-004 on Tape 558 (tape position 01:31:42–01:32:20)StartMonday, August 9, 1971 at 4:29 PMEndMonday, August 9, 1971 at 4:33 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 558-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met briefly in the Oval Office to coordinate logistics for an upcoming photograph session in the mess. The discussion focused on scheduling preparations and the necessity of planning the event effectively. The conversation concluded with the President confirming his availability to accommodate these arrangements.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 133.4 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 01:31:42 into the tape and ends around 01:32:20.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

1:32:00Listen, this is, this is very short.
1:32:02We're doing the mess.
1:32:03We're going to have to take pictures.
1:32:06And all of that will be planned.
1:32:07So good, good.
1:32:08We should be here.
1:32:09We have a lot of time to be here.
1:32:10But since I was in the greenhouse...

NARA Description

On August 9, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:29 pm and 4:33 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 558-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 558-4

Date: August 9, 1971
Time: Unknown between 4:29 pm and 4:33 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     President's schedule
          -Forthcoming meeting
                 -Photograph session
          -Paul W. McCracken

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 4:33 pm.

Also recorded on August 9, 1971

  • 558-002 3:36 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:36 pm and 3:38 pm.
  • 558-003 3:38 PM · 52 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, John N. Mitchell, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, unknown person(s), and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:38 pm to 4:29 pm.
  • 558-005 4:33 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, James F. Campbell, Charles L. Ill, Laurece E. Lynn, Donald M. Mosiman, Norman V. Watson, Richard S. Wilbur, Daniel T. Kinsley, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:33 pm to 4:37 pm.
  • 558-006 4:37 PM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:37 pm.
  • 558-007 4:37 PM · 23 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Paul W. McCracken, unknown person(s), and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:37 pm to 5:00 pm.
  • 558-008 5:00 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:00 pm and 5:02 pm.
  • 558-009 5:02 PM · 44 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, George P. Shultz, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:02 pm to 5:44 pm.
  • 558-010 5:44 PM · 34 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ellsworth F. Bunker, Henry A. Kissinger, White House photographer, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:44 pm to 6:18 pm.

All 38 conversations from August 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 558-004, 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/558-004 (accessed October 11, 2026).