Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 577 › Conversation 577-005
Nixon & Butterfield on Oval Office and Presidential records
Monday, September 20, 1971 · 1:30 PM–1:40 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield in the Oval Office to discuss the handling and organization of specific documents. The brief conversation focused on the contents and management of a briefcase containing sensitive materials. No further details regarding the nature of these documents were established during the short session.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 143.2 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 01:17:22 into the tape and ends around 01:18:19.
Transcript (AI-generated)
No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.
NARA Description
On September 20, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:30 pm and 1:40 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 577-005 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 577-5
Date: September 20, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:30 pm and 1:40 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.
Briefcase
-Materials
Butterfield left at an unknown time before 1:40 pm.Also recorded on September 20, 1971
- 577-002 12:44 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:44 pm to 12:45 pm.
- 009-095 12:45 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John N. Mitchell talked on the telephone from 12:45 pm to 12:46 pm.
- 577-003 12:45 PM · 58 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John N. Mitchell, Arthur F. Burns, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:45 pm to 1:30 pm.
- 577-006 1:30 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:30 pm and 1:40 pm.
- 577-007 1:30 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:30 pm and 1:40 pm.
- 577-008 1:40 PM · 48 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, William E. Walk, Jr., and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 2:59 pm.
- 009-096 2:09 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 2:09 pm.
- 009-097 2:09 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William E. Walk, Jr. talked on the telephone from 2:09 pm to 2:12 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 577-005, September 20, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/577-005 (accessed October 12, 2026).