Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 601 › Conversation 601-028

Nixon, Haig & Butterfield on Personnel Management and Public Relations

Monday, October 25, 1971 · 12:15 PM–12:17 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Haig, Alexander M., Jr.; Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation601-028 on Tape 601 (tape position 03:31:06–03:32:53)StartMonday, October 25, 1971 at 12:15 PMEndMonday, October 25, 1971 at 12:17 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 601-028 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, Alexander Haig, and Alexander Butterfield met briefly to discuss personnel logistics and the administration's strategic response to an unidentified adversary. The participants addressed the handling of a specific individual who sought to confront the President and evaluated the potential fallout from a public relations strategy. Nixon emphasized the need for a decisive approach despite claims that the White House was not involved in the underlying dispute.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello.
Yeah, I, uh, I noted that I just got back.
The driver said to call for me.
Do you know what it's about?
Okay, fine.
The guy just wanted to run into me.
He wanted to get back at me, like that.
Well, he doesn't want me to call that, does he?
They can, and they can't, uh, this ridiculous plan that we're not behind them.
It's just, certainly, they may claim that, but I don't see why they can't.
We ought to get them anyway.
Yeah, but she wasn't me, sir.
No, I just wasn't.
Yeah, yeah, go ahead.
Right, okay, fine.
Right, fine.

NARA Description

On October 25, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 12:17 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 601-028 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 601-28

Date: October 25, 1971
Time: 12:15 pm - 12:17 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President talked with Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

[See Conversation No. 12-109; one item has been withdrawn from the conversation]

Alexander P. Butterfield entered at an unknown time after 12:15 pm.

     [Unintelligible]

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 12:17 pm.

[End of telephone conversation]

Also recorded on October 25, 1971

  • 012-108 12:10 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 601-024 12:10 PM · 14 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 601-025 12:10 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 601-026 12:10 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:10 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 012-109 12:15 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and unknown person(s) talked on the telephone from 12:15 pm to 12:17 pm.
  • 012-110 12:17 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:17 pm and 12:20 pm.
  • 601-029 12:17 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:17 pm and 12:20 pm.
  • 012-111 12:20 PM · 11 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 12:20 pm to 12:31 pm.

All 50 conversations from October 25, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 601-028, October 25, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/601-028 (accessed October 12, 2026).