{"conversationCode":"656-016","tapeNumber":656,"conversationNumber":16,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-656-016","startDateTime":"1972-01-26T17:12:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-01-26T17:14:00.000Z","startDate":"26-Jan-1972","startTime":"12:12 PM","endDate":"26-Jan-1972","endTime":"12:14 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.;","description":"On January 26, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:12 pm and 12:14 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 656-016 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. 656-16\n\nDate: January 26, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 12:12 pm and 12:14 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.\n\n     Schedule\n          -Items for signature\n          -The President’s Vietnam peace proposal speech, January 25, 1972\n               -Butterfield’s view\n               -North Vietnamese\n          -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman\n\nButterfield left at an unknown time before 12:14 pm.","filename":["656-016.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:18:34","tapeEnd":"02:21:02","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Butterfield, Alexander P."],"prevCode":"656-015","nextCode":"656-017","transcript":[{"start":0.31,"end":2.17,"text":"I'm gonna get some chai and get out of the way real quick."},{"start":26.36,"end":29.68,"text":"I'm going to tell you what I'm sure you've heard."},{"start":29.7,"end":30.6,"text":"That's not a ghost."},{"start":30.64,"end":31.82,"text":"That's a real ghost."},{"start":31.9,"end":36.42,"text":"It's a very nice one over here."},{"start":37.24,"end":38.28,"text":"It's a great one."},{"start":38.55,"end":41.25,"text":"Well, I don't know if it's a good response."},{"start":41.39,"end":43.03,"text":"I'm standing in front of it."},{"start":43.11,"end":46.79,"text":"I don't know if it's going to be a party or a game."},{"start":46.89,"end":49.31,"text":"I don't know if it's going to be a party or a game."},{"start":94.19,"end":96.46,"text":"Oh, just a little late, so I won't be back in a minute."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met to review administrative scheduling matters and finalize items requiring the President’s signature. They briefly discussed the public and diplomatic reception of Nixon's recent Vietnam peace proposal speech delivered the previous day. The session concluded with logistical arrangements involving H.R. Haldeman and the management of the President's immediate calendar.","topics":["Vietnam peace proposal","Scheduling","H.R. Haldeman","Presidential correspondence","Diplomatic strategy"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T01:59:31.564Z"},"topicSlugs":["vietnam-peace-proposal","scheduling","h-r-haldeman","presidential-correspondence","diplomatic-strategy"],"audioDurationSec":105,"audioFiles":[{"file":"656-016.mp3","bytes":4185648,"durationSec":104.5,"bitrate":320435,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.664Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/656-016.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/656-016","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/656/conversation-656-016","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}