Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 670 › Conversation 670-020

Nixon & Butterfield on André Malraux and Henry Kissinger

Monday, February 14, 1972 · 3:45 PM–3:47 PM ET · Oval Office · 54 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation670-020 on Tape 670 (tape position 04:43:35–04:45:10)StartMonday, February 14, 1972 at 3:45 PMEndMonday, February 14, 1972 at 3:47 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 670-020 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417180809 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to discuss staffing arrangements for an upcoming meeting involving André Malraux and Henry Kissinger. Nixon explicitly expressed his opposition to utilizing female interpreters, directing Butterfield to ensure a male interpreter is selected for the assignment instead. This exchange reflects the President’s rigid preferences regarding professional protocol and the composition of his diplomatic staff.

André Malraux
Henry Kissinger
White House staffing
Presidential preferences
Diplomatic protocol
Gender bias

Audio

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NARA Description

On February 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:45 pm and 3:47 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 670-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 670-20

Date: February 14, 1972
Time: Unknown between 3:45 pm and 3:47 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     Meeting
          -Andre Malraux                                         Conv. No. 670-23/671-1 (cont.)
               -Interpreter
                     -Sophia K. Porson
                           -Henry A. Kissinger
                                 -President’s view
                           -Stag dinner

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 3:47 pm.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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).

There's a female in February.

That would be awesome.

both at 4,000 and 5,000 feet, as well as for the minute.

I'll get that.

I want to study that.

I think there was a backhander.

I want to see the tail of the backhander.

The very kind of argument we had was that it would be very obvious that she is a service person and not a member of the group if she sits there as a woman.

But it seems like she didn't have a group and made it out.

I doubt it.

I don't like her anymore.

I mean, I don't mean, I don't like a woman interpreter.

I don't want women interpreters.

I don't have to describe it 150 times.

Just get a man.

Life doesn't apply to me.

Also recorded on February 14, 1972

670-016 2:48 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:48 pm to 3:04 pm.
670-017 3:04 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:04 pm and 3:05 pm.
670-018 3:05 PM · 41 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Slaheddine El Goulli, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, James L. Buckley, and Thomas C. Korologos met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:05 pm to 3:45 pm.
670-019 3:45 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:45 pm and 3:47 pm.
670-021 3:47 PM · 19 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:47 pm to 4:07 pm.
670-022 4:08 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 4:08 pm.
670-023 4:09 PM · 40 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Andre Malraux, Sophia K. Porson, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:09 pm and 5:28 pm.
671-001 4:09 PM · 1 hr 30 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Andre Malraux, Sophia K. Porson, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, Manolo Sanchez, and Rose Mary Woods met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:09 pm to 6:19 pm.

All 33 conversations from February 14, 1972 →

Nixon & Mitchell on White House decor and Portraiture October 19, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Andrews on Defense policy and Military superiority October 26, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on Vietnam War negotiations and Public relations January 31, 1972 · 41 min
Nixon phone call with Haldeman on Economic Policy and John Connally November 22, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Haig on Congressional relations and Legislative strategy May 10, 1973 · 7 min
Nixon phone call with Kissinger on Taiwan-US relations November 14, 1972 · 7 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 670-020, February 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417180809). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/670-020 (accessed November 1, 2026).