Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 559 › Conversation 559-014

Nixon, Butterfield & Bull on White House Schedule and Appropriations Bill

Tuesday, August 10, 1971 · 2:31 PM–2:33 PM ET · Oval Office · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; Bull, Stephen B.; [Unknown person(s)]Conversation559-014 on Tape 559 (tape position 02:42:04–02:45:54)StartTuesday, August 10, 1971 at 2:31 PMEndTuesday, August 10, 1971 at 2:33 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 559-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield and Stephen B. Bull to coordinate his daily schedule and manage pending administrative tasks. Key discussions centered on the timeline for an urgent appropriations bill and the logistics of a White House tour for broadcaster Paul Harvey. Nixon sought to streamline these appointments to accommodate upcoming meetings with the Council of Economic Advisers and other staff members.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 2 minutes of this recording (about 67% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Mr. President, the Apple market and the radio are kind of tickers me.
It's kind of a two-word question.
And I heard that when the, when I was studying, all the items I was trying to take, nothing substitute, nothing on the record, just in and out, could be delivered about a half hour.
In a half hour, we could do it now in 30 seconds.
Or we could, I don't know, I don't know.
He's here right now.
He takes time.
He takes time.
What I did in the back while you were working through the door here.
Do they have that bill?
You know, there's an appropriation bill we've got to decide today.
Do they have it?
Or whoever it is.
I don't know what the score is.
I've got to get this meeting with the council.
I mean, yeah.
I mean, it's not, it just, you know, relapsed.
I mean, I mean, it is a therapy.
So is this, what is this, what is this, what is this, that goes about?
Maybe that's it.
Well, that'll probably be in an hour later then.
Yeah.
No.
Just had to wait a while.
I'm gonna be about 10 minutes here in a couple of minutes.
He's outside now.
He's an American.
And he's had the tour over there.
I don't know whether he's been over to the house yet, but he's having a tour of the West Wing.
If you find out if he had, say if he didn't come back, I can get him just before 3, a little better than I do, right?
And I'll be glad that he'll come in.
But if not, I'll go around right now.
Yeah, well, Captain, see you later.
I'm sure you'll be able to see what I'm talking about before I leave this.

NARA Description

On August 10, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Stephen B. Bull, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:31 pm and 2:33 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 559-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 559-014

Date: August 10, 1971
Time: 2:31 pm - unknown before 2:33 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield and Stephen B. Bull.

     President's schedule
           -Paul Harvey
                 -White House tour
                       -Harry S. Dent
                       -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins
           -Bill signing

The President talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 2:31 pm and 2:33
pm.

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

[Conversation No. 559-14A]

     President's schedule
           -Agriculture bill
                 -John D. Ehrlichman
           -Council of Economic Advisers [CEA]
           -Bill
                 -George P. Shultz, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.
           -Peter M. Flanigan
           -Harvey
                 -Tour
                       -Dent
                       -West wing

[End of telephone conversation]

     President's schedule
           -Thomas R. Shepard, Jr.

Butterfield and Bull left at an unknown time before 2:33 pm.

Also recorded on August 10, 1971

  • 559-015 2:31 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:31 pm and 2:33 pm.
  • 007-085 2:33 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 2:33 pm to 2:37 pm.
  • 559-016 2:33 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:33 pm to 2:37 pm.
  • 559-017 2:37 PM · 27 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:37 pm and 2:38 pm.
  • 559-018 2:38 PM · 9 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., and George P. Shultz met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:38 pm to 2:46 pm.
  • 559-019 2:46 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:46 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 559-020 2:46 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:46 pm and 2:59 pm.
  • 559-021 2:59 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Mrs. Paul Harvey, Harry S. Dent, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:59 pm to 3:19 pm.

All 40 conversations from August 10, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 559-014, August 10, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/559-014 (accessed October 9, 2026).