Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 606 › Conversation 606-001

Nixon & Butterfield on State dinner and Event planning

Thursday, October 28, 1971 · 1:48 PM–3:03 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation606-001 on Tape 606 (tape position 00:02:15–00:04:26)StartThursday, October 28, 1971 at 1:48 PMEndThursday, October 28, 1971 at 3:03 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 606-001 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield discuss the logistical arrangements and entertainment choices for an upcoming State dinner. The conversation focuses on the technical aspects of film presentation and the duration of performance segments, with the President providing specific feedback on the proposed format. Nixon also critiques the quality of a specific entertainer, ultimately deciding against the inclusion of certain background sound options for the films.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 58% 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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Hey, Steve.

Is there any objection to putting a sound on the films and I can just entertain them?

We do it at 50 or 60% and stay there to entertain them.

No, I don't want to.

You do not want to.

I'm sure he wants it.

What do you think of the middle?

Why don't you pay for your introduction and the entertainment for your thanks at the end?

You know, how you've done that the past two or three minutes at the end.

Two or three minutes at the end.

They filmed her brushing off her, just like they did.

And I'm going to de-fax some of that.

So, Parker, you know, she's not all that.

I don't think she's that good.

NARA Description

On October 28, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:48 pm and 3:03 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 606-001 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 606-1

Date: October 28, 1971
Time: Unknown between 1:48 pm and 3:03 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     The President's schedule

     Forthcoming State dinner
          -Entertainment
               -Recording
               -Constance M. Stuart
               -Ronald L. Ziegler
          -Photograph opportunity

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 3:03 pm.

Also recorded on October 28, 1971

605-006 10:46 AM · 53 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:46 am to 10:47 am.
605-007 10:47 AM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:47 am and 10:48 am.
605-008 10:48 AM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:48 am to 10:50 am.
605-009 11:23 AM · 1 hr 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Josip Broz Tito, Lijana Tambaca, Alexander Akalovsky, Ronald L. Ziegler, Ronald L. Ziegler, Vidoje Zarkovic, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:23 am to 12:45 pm.
605-010 12:45 PM · 2 min — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 12:47 pm.
605-011 12:47 PM · 17 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:47 pm to 1:07 pm.
605-012 1:10 PM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:10 pm to 1:48 pm.
606-002 3:03 PM · 2 hr 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John B. Connally, Arthur F. Burns, Paul W. McCracken, George P. Shultz, Peter G. Peterson, Peter M. Flanigan, Stephen B. Bull, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:03 pm to 5:54 pm.

All 17 conversations from October 28, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 606-001, October 28, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/606-001 (accessed October 12, 2026).