Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 645 › Conversation 645-002

Nixon & Butterfield on John Mitchell and Missing person

Tuesday, January 11, 1972 · 11:10 AM–11:33 AM ET · Oval Office · 32 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation645-002 on Tape 645 (tape position 00:43:38–00:44:06)StartTuesday, January 11, 1972 at 11:10 AMEndTuesday, January 11, 1972 at 11:33 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 645-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander Butterfield discussed the whereabouts of John Mitchell, who was reportedly unavailable and had left for an unspecified reason. Butterfield was tasked with relaying messages to Mitchell and ensuring he would be contacted upon his return. The primary focus was on locating Mitchell and communicating with him.

Audio

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Position in tape: 00:43:38 – 00:44:06

0:55

645a.mp3

NARA Description

On January 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:10 am and 11:33 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 645-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 645-2

Date: January 11, 1972
Time: Unknown between 11:10 am and 11:33 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     John N. Mitchell [?]

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 11:33 am.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

NixonDid you find that [unintelligible]?
ButterfieldNo, sir, he wasn't there.
ButterfieldThey don't know where he is. I told them to call the instant they got in touch with him.
Butterfield[unintelligible] told Mitchell
Butterfieldthe same thing.
ButterfieldHe just said he had to go somewhere and he'd be back.

Also recorded on January 11, 1972

  • 645-001 11:10 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:10 am and 11:33 am.
  • 645-003 11:33 AM · 28 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:33 am and 12:02 pm.
  • 645-004 12:02 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Arthur S. Flemming, Bernice V. (Moler) Flemming, Harry S. Flemming, John Parker, Susan H. (Flemming) Parker, Elizabeth Parker, Charles Parker, John Parker, Jr., Elliot L. Richardson, John B. Martin, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Leonard Garment, James W. McLane, L. John Evans, Webster B. Todd, Jr., Thomas A. Flannery, Stephen B. Bull, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:02 pm and 12:16 pm.
  • 645-005 12:16 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:16 pm to 12:21 pm.
  • 018-063 12:21 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:21 pm and 12:29 pm.
  • 312-018 12:21 PM · 17 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:21 pm and 12:29 pm.
  • 312-019 12:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:21 pm and 12:29 pm.
  • 312-020 12:21 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 12:21 pm and 12:29 pm.

All 30 conversations from January 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 645-002, January 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/645-002 (accessed November 13, 2026).