Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 613 › Conversation 613-013

Nixon & Butterfield on Language training and Travel preparations

Thursday, November 4, 1971 · 9:57 AM–10:00 AM ET · Oval Office · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation613-013 on Tape 613 (tape position 04:22:53–04:27:30)StartThursday, November 4, 1971 at 9:57 AMEndThursday, November 4, 1971 at 10:00 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 613-013 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon, First Lady Pat Nixon, and Alexander Butterfield engaged in a brief, informal discussion regarding upcoming travel and communication preparations. The conversation touched upon language training programs and the potential use of instructional techniques to facilitate the President's ability to speak foreign languages. The participants concluded the meeting after confirming logistics for these preparatory efforts.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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).
Oh, hey.
Oh, it's great to be here.
Of course it's great.
You ought to go out and play golf.
You're nice.
I bet you're coming in here.
Yeah, well, it would be very nice to have you here.
Julie, it would be nice to have her with you.
I'm just delighted that you're going to do that.
I've heard her host, Tristan, they've made it.
It's just terrific.
They're great people.
And they said they had responded to me missing their song.
They wanted it for me too, my wife.
And I let it do it for Russian, for just a couple times.
We won't let it stay, you know, because it would leak it.
And then after, he had to trip.
And it's about home, and it's a feel of it, certainly.
He just said, you know, the beauty of this, as the guy says, you can say three words in Chinese, compared to, you know, that silly goddamn performance of Jackie Kennedy in Paris.
It's easy to do.
I mean, it's about all I need.
So I said, I'm sure we can do it.
When is it supposed to start?
Huh?
When is it?
I'd start soon.
No, I'd start whenever you've got some time.
Yeah, yeah.
But if you would, I'll ask Bob to call you in the range of time.
I'd like to know what you think of schools so that I'll know whether to use them or not.
Well, I know they're the best.
They're great.
They work.
They told me that if you could take three weeks, they would bring you in any language so that you could talk.
Any language.
Yeah.
Three weeks?
I had three weeks.
I had three weeks.
I had three weeks.
I had three weeks.
I had three weeks.
I had three weeks.
Do you have any place prior?
Walk, walk right there.
Just go in there.
To the right.
Yeah, all set.
Yes, sir, we're all set.
They're heavy-duty now, sir.
All right, stand to the right.
Okay, this is .
Sure.
I've just got a cold.

NARA Description

On November 4, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:57 am to 10:00 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 613-013 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 613-013

Date: November 4, 1971
Time: 9:57 am - 10:00 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon.

*****************************************************************

[Previous PRMPA Personal Returnable (G) withdrawal reviewed under deed of gift 06/03/2019.
Segment cleared for release.]
[Personal Returnable]
[613-013-w001]
[Duration: 3m 14s]

     Weather
         -Golf

     Forthcoming meeting with Indira Gandhi
          -The President’s opinion
          -Julie Nixon Eisenhower
          -Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon

     Thelma C. (Ryan) (“Pat”) Nixon’s schedule
          -Foreign trips
               -Union of Socialist Soviet Republics [USSR]
                      -Department of State [DOS]
               -The People's Republic of China [PRC]
               -Compared with Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
                      -Paris
                      -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
               -Language instruction
                      -The President

An unknown man [Alexander P. Butterfield?] entered at an unknown time after 9:57 am

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

     Arrival ceremony for Indira Gandhi
          -Arrangements

The unknown man left at an unknown time before 10:00 am

     Weather

*****************************************************************

President and Mrs. Nixon left at 10:00 am.

Also recorded on November 4, 1971

  • 613-010 8:09 AM · 37 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:09 am to 8:12 am.
  • 613-011 8:21 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:21 am to 8:22 am.
  • 613-012 8:24 AM · 1 hr 25 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, George P. Shultz, unknown person(s), Arthur F. Burns, Alexander P. Butterfield, Rose Mary Woods, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Stephen B. Bull, and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:24 am to 9:50 am.
  • 613-014 10:00 AM · 4 sec — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:00 am and 10:29 am.
  • 613-015 10:29 AM · 2 hr 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Indira Ghandi, Ronald L. Ziegler, Parmeshwar N. Haksar, Manolo Sanchez, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:29 am to 12:35 pm.
  • 613-016 12:35 PM · 49 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:35 pm and 12:37 pm.
  • 613-017 12:37 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:37 pm to 12:40 pm.
  • 614-001 12:43 PM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:43 pm and 12:54 pm.

All 58 conversations from November 4, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 613-013, November 4, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/613-013 (accessed October 12, 2026).