{"conversationCode":"652-015","tapeNumber":652,"conversationNumber":15,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-652-015","startDateTime":"1972-01-20T23:00:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-01-20T23:08:00.000Z","startDate":"20-Jan-1972","startTime":"6:00 PM","endDate":"20-Jan-1972","endTime":"6:08 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; White House operator; Finch, Robert H.;","description":"On January 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, White House operator, and Robert H. Finch met in the Oval Office of the White House from 6:00 pm to 6:08 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 652-015 of the White House Tapes.","locationCode":"OVAL","recordingDevice":"Oval Office","latitudeEstimated":38.8974,"longitudeEstimated":-77.0374,"chronCode":3,"chronRelease":"Third Chronological Release","chronReleaseDate":"28-Feb-2002","aogpRelease":null,"aogpSegment":null,"lastModified":"2015-07-27T17:04:10.235Z","findingAid":"Conversation No. 652-15\n\nDate: January 20, 1972\nTime: 6:00 pm - 6:08 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.\n\n        H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman’s schedule\n              -Preparation for Cabinet dinner\n\n        Items for the President’s signature\n\n        [Signing documents]\n\n        Robert H. Finch\n             -Health\n                   -Location\n                        -Home\n                        -Cabinet meeting\n\n[The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 6:00 pm and\n6:06 pm.]\n\n[Conversation No. 652-15A]\n\n[See Conversation No. 19-37]\n\n[End of telephone conversation]\n\f       Finch\n               -Health\n\n       [Signing documents]\n\n       Memorandum\n\n[The President talked with Finch between 6:06 pm and 6:08 pm.]\n\n[Conversation No. 652-15B]\n\n[See Conversation No. 19-38]\n\nButterfield left at an unknown time before 6:08 pm.\n\n[End of telephone conversation]","filename":["652-015.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:50:12","tapeEnd":"02:58:08","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Butterfield, Alexander P.","White House operator","Finch, Robert H."],"prevCode":"652-014","nextCode":"652-016","transcript":[{"start":0.63,"end":5.24,"text":"Sir Bob was getting ready for dinner and he got on a bugger."},{"start":5.28,"end":5.68,"text":"Hold on, sir."},{"start":5.74,"end":7.14,"text":"Did you, uh, watch your ears?"},{"start":7.21,"end":8.15,"text":"I'm trying to understand."},{"start":118.41,"end":118.95,"text":"Oh, my God."},{"start":211.02,"end":211.5,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":211.52,"end":214.58,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":214.62,"end":214.82,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":235.8,"end":236.78,"text":"This is a bottle of ocean air."},{"start":265.71,"end":270.13,"text":"And so that's the only fact that they've been able to attempt to do anything else."},{"start":287.53,"end":293.58,"text":"Well, I guess once, I'm so sorry, Mr. Malick, you had to stay in the bed, but I wish you well."},{"start":293.6,"end":295.1,"text":"I'll tell Carol to bring your booze."},{"start":295.12,"end":295.52,"text":"Right, right."},{"start":295.54,"end":296.04,"text":"Well, yeah."},{"start":296.1,"end":297.16,"text":"You were getting it out of you."},{"start":298.42,"end":299.55,"text":"But thank God."},{"start":299.93,"end":301.15,"text":"Don't go."},{"start":301.99,"end":304.61,"text":"Don't go everywhere with those things."},{"start":305.19,"end":307.01,"text":"They're such a pain in the neck."},{"start":307.09,"end":307.27,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":309.75,"end":310.02,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":312.02,"end":315.97,"text":"Well, you know, I decided to be very conciliatory."},{"start":316.01,"end":322.75,"text":"But then that lays it open for us to draw a sword four or five months from now, and they haven't done a damn thing."},{"start":322.81,"end":325.07,"text":"True that, yeah."},{"start":326.96,"end":329.72,"text":"Which I did."},{"start":329.86,"end":332.22,"text":"I supported his dark group."},{"start":332.3,"end":333.92,"text":"But what have you done?"},{"start":333.98,"end":334.72,"text":"Flew again, Bob?"},{"start":334.74,"end":334.86,"text":"Yeah."},{"start":345.11,"end":345.55,"text":"Oh, boy."},{"start":346.07,"end":347.71,"text":"Well, you take care."},{"start":347.92,"end":349.2,"text":"You take care."},{"start":349.76,"end":355.52,"text":"After all, 20 minutes is the beginning of the fourth quarter, so we've got to score a couple of touchdowns."},{"start":356.52,"end":356.86,"text":"Okay."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to handle routine administrative tasks, including the signing of official documents and coordination regarding H. R. Haldeman’s schedule for an upcoming Cabinet dinner. The President also engaged in a brief, informal telephone conversation with Robert H. Finch concerning his health and recovery. The interaction concluded with the President emphasizing the need for strategic political momentum heading into the upcoming months.","topics":["White House administration","Robert H. Finch","H. R. Haldeman","Cabinet dinner","Presidential scheduling","Political strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T01:55:33.074Z"},"topicSlugs":["white-house-administration","robert-h-finch","h-r-haldeman","cabinet-dinner","presidential-scheduling","political-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":359,"audioFiles":[{"file":"652-015.mp3","bytes":3597332,"durationSec":359.29,"bitrate":80098,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.663Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:44:13.721Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/652-015.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/652-015","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/652/conversation-652-015","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}