Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 674 › Conversation 674-005

Nixon, Butterfield & Bull on Chou En-lai and Diplomatic protocol

Thursday, February 17, 1972 · 8:24 AM–8:28 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; Bull, Stephen B.Conversation674-005 on Tape 674 (tape position 00:12:42–00:15:02)StartThursday, February 17, 1972 at 8:24 AMEndThursday, February 17, 1972 at 8:28 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 674-005 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander Butterfield and Stephen Bull to discuss administrative logistics and upcoming diplomatic preparations. The participants reviewed the content of an upcoming toast for Chinese Premier Chou En-lai, prepared in consultation with Henry Kissinger and the National Security Council, and addressed routine matters involving John Connally and the signing of documents with Rose Mary Woods. The brief session focused on coordinating White House workflows and final adjustments to presidential communications.

Audio

Download MP3 · 96.7 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 00:12:42 into the tape and ends around 00:15:02.

Transcript (AI-generated)

No transcript is available yet for this conversation. The recording may contain no audible speech, or it may not have been processed.

NARA Description

On February 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:24 am and 8:28 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 674-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 674-5

Date: February 17, 1972
Time: Unknown between 8:24 am and 8:28 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield and Stephen B. Bull.

     Toast
             -Chou En-lai
             -National Security Council [NSC]
                  -Henry A. Kissinger

     John B. Connally

     Signing documents
          -Rose Mary Woods

Butterfield and Bull left at an unknown time before 8:28 am.

Also recorded on February 17, 1972

020-102 8:11 AM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 8:11 am and 8:28 am.
674-001 8:11 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:11 am and 8:15 am.
674-002 8:11 AM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:11 am and 8:15 am.
674-003 8:15 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:15 am to 8:24 am.
674-004 8:24 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:24 am and 8:28 am.
674-006 8:24 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:24 am and 8:28 am.
020-103 8:28 AM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller talked on the telephone from 8:28 am to 8:31 am.
674-007 8:28 AM · 27 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Nelson A. Rockefeller met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:28 am to 8:31 am.

All 24 conversations from February 17, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 674-005, February 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/674-005 (accessed October 12, 2026).