Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 559 › Conversation 559-007

Nixon & Butterfield on Diplomatic gifts and Lon Nol

Tuesday, August 10, 1971 · 11:54 AM–11:59 AM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation559-007 on Tape 559 (tape position 01:07:56–01:11:31)StartTuesday, August 10, 1971 at 11:54 AMEndTuesday, August 10, 1971 at 11:59 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 559-007 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417178809 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Butterfield met to review the exchange of diplomatic gifts between the President and Prime Minister Lon Nol of Cambodia. The discussion centered on the specific items presented, including a clock and flowers given by the White House, and a silver urn and gold ruby necklace received in return. This meeting served as a procedural wrap-up of the gift-giving protocols associated with the Prime Minister's visit.

Audio

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NARA Description

On August 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 11:59 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 559-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 559-007

Date: August 10, 1971
Time: Unknown between 11:54 am and 11:59 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     President's schedule
           -Gifts
                  -Prime Minister Lon Nol
                       -Exchange with the President and Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 11:59 am.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

This is just something, I promise, that we want you to .
Well, here you are.
I don't know .
That's right.
See, there wasn't .
You get it.
Yes, we gave him a clock and then flowers for his wife.
And he gave you a silver urn and a gold ruby necklace.
And this is, this is music.
Ruby plus photo of me and his wife.

Also recorded on August 10, 1971

  • 068-008 11:54 AM · 25 min — Richard M. Nixon, Sisowath Sirik Matak,Sophia Porson, Ronald L. Ziegler, Oliver ("Ollie") Atkins, Henry A. Kissinger, and members of the press met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 11:54 am and 12:00 pm.
  • 559-008 11:59 AM · 1 hr 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Sisowath Sirik Matak, Sophia K. Porson, Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:59 am to 1:04 pm.
  • 559-025 1:04 PM · 11 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:04 pm and 1:10 pm.
  • 559-009 1:10 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Aldo F. DiChiara, Crensenzi W. Castaldo, George T. Bell, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:10 pm to 1:15 pm.
  • 559-010 1:15 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:15 pm to 1:16 pm.
  • 559-011 1:16 PM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, A. Blaine Huntsman, Jon M. Huntsman, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:16 pm to 1:17 pm.
  • 559-012 1:18 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:18 pm to 1:30 pm.
  • 559-013 1:30 PM · 29 sec — Alexander P. Butterfield and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:30 pm and 2:31 pm.

All 39 conversations from August 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 559-007, August 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417178809). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/559-007 (accessed November 2, 2026).