Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 685 › Conversation 685-020

Nixon & Butterfield on Presidential records and Lyndon B. Johnson

Tuesday, March 14, 1972 · 3:49 PM–3:52 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation685-020 onTape 685 (tape position 05:55:46–05:57:00)StartTuesday, March 14, 1972 at 3:49 PMEndTuesday, March 14, 1972 at 3:52 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 685-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield coordinate the distribution of photographs from a recent event, specifically requesting that copies be sent to former President Lyndon B. Johnson. The brief interaction serves to ensure that participants and relevant former officials are properly provided with visual documentation. Nixon emphasizes the importance of direct delivery to prevent these records from being misplaced or lost.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.9 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 167.8 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 161.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 4) · 40.1 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 05:55:46 into the tape and ends around 05:57:00.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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 · Timestamps are positions within the full tape recording.

5:56:03Well, oh my.
5:56:07Anybody that's living in this house always lives in this house.
5:56:24Absolutely.
5:56:26Goodbye.
5:56:30Oh, well, thanks.
5:56:30There we go.
5:56:31Well, we've got to give my thanks to your dad.
5:56:36He still runs the radio, doesn't he?
5:56:38The radio station, right?
5:56:41No, thank you.
5:56:43It's what I was saying.
5:56:46Oh, that's right.
5:56:47Communications.
5:56:50So good to see you.
5:56:51Well, we appreciate it.
5:56:54Thank you very much.
5:56:57We've got him out on his political career.
5:57:01He's on the way.
5:57:04Yes, extending copies of all pictures.
5:57:08You know what I mean?
5:57:09Because they probably would lose the solution.
5:57:11That's my guess.
5:57:12They have to send them copies.
5:57:14And also make sure they're sent to President Johnson.
5:57:18We'll do that.
5:57:19Because our own parts are different, too.
5:57:23So send copies to both.
5:57:25Is anybody else you'd like to report that they've been with any of them?
5:57:31Well, let's see if our conference will have one.
5:57:37I have one for you.
5:57:39Thank you.
5:57:41Listen, I think you better say goodbye to him.
5:57:46Goodbye.
5:57:47Goodbye.
5:57:48Goodbye.
5:57:49Goodbye.
5:57:51You know what I mean.
5:57:53Goodbye.
5:57:58Okay.
5:57:59Goodbye.
5:58:02Okay.

NARA Description

On March 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:49 pm to 3:52 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 685-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 685-20
Date: March 14, 1972
Time: 3:49 pm - 3:52 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

       The President's schedule
            -H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
            -Richard G. Kleindienst
                  -Call to the President
                  -John D. Ehrlichman
                  -Note
            -Haldeman

The President and Butterfield left.

Also recorded on March 14, 1972

  • 685-014 3:24 PM · 55 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:24 pm to 3:25 pm.
  • 685-015 3:25 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Debbie Wright, George H. Mahon, Raymond L. Schafer, Macon T. Edwards, James T. Hazelwood, John E. Nidecker, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:25 pm to 3:31 pm.
  • 685-016 3:31 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:31 pm and 3:37 pm.
  • 685-017 3:31 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:31 pm and 3:37 pm.
  • 685-018 3:37 PM · 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Tricia Nixon Cox, Luci Johnson Nugent, Patrick L. Nugent, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:37 pm to 3:49 pm.
  • 685-019 3:49 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:49 pm.
  • 322-055 3:52 PM · 7 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 3:52 pm and 4:18 pm.
  • 685-022 3:52 PM · 47 sec — Alexander P. Butterfield, United States Secret Service agents, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:52 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 41 conversations from March 14, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 685-020, March 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/685-020 (accessed September 18, 2026).