Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 609 › Conversation 609-004

Nixon & Butterfield

Saturday, October 30, 1971 · 9:58 AM–10:05 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation609-004 on Tape 609 (tape position 01:08:36–01:10:09)StartSaturday, October 30, 1971 at 9:58 AMEndSaturday, October 30, 1971 at 10:05 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 609-004 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with his Deputy Assistant Alexander P. Butterfield to discuss routine administrative matters and staff operations within the Oval Office. Although specific details of the dialogue remain undocumented due to the lack of a transcript, such meetings typically focused on the management of presidential correspondence and internal White House procedures. Butterfield’s departure shortly after the meeting began suggests a brief exchange regarding executive scheduling or operational oversight.

Audio

part A, 1:08:36

Download MP3 (part 1) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 168.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 60.9 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the players above hold the full tape, shared with neighbouring conversations. By the archivists' log it runs from 01:08:36 to 01:10:09 into the tape; their log often drifts a minute or two from the audio, so listen for the subjects in the finding aid.

NARA Description

On October 30, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:58 am and 10:05 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 609-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 609-4

Date: October 30, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:58 am and 10:05 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     The President's signature

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 10:05 am.

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.

Also recorded on October 30, 1971

  • 609-001 8:35 AM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:35 am and 8:54 am.
  • 609-003 8:54 AM · 1 hr 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Henry A. Kissinger, unknown person(s), and Charles W. Colson met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:54 am to 9:58 am.
  • 609-005 9:58 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:58 am and 10:05 am.
  • 609-006 9:58 AM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:58 am and 10:05 am.
  • 609-007 10:05 AM · 1 hr 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Josip Broz Tito, Lijana Tambaca, Alexander Akalovsky, Stephen B. Bull, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and Emil ("Bus") Mosbacher, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:05 am to 11:12 am.
  • 609-008 11:16 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:16 am to 11:19 am.
  • 609-009 11:19 AM · 38 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:19 am and 11:20 am.
  • 609-010 11:20 AM · 49 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:20 am to 11:21 am.

All 13 conversations from October 30, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 609-004, October 30, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/609-004 (accessed November 14, 2026).