{"conversationCode":"686-008","tapeNumber":686,"conversationNumber":8,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-686-008","startDateTime":"1972-03-17T16:55:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-03-17T17:00:00.000Z","startDate":"17-Mar-1972","startTime":"11:55 AM","endDate":"17-Mar-1972","endTime":"12:00 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"certain","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.;","description":"On March 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:55 am to 12:00 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 686-008 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. 686-8\n\nDate: March 17, 1972\n\nTime: 11:55 am - 12:00 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.\n\n      Camp David\n          -William P. Rogers\n                -H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman\n                      -Butterfield’s forthcoming call to Haldeman\n                -Family\n                -Staff members\n          -Melvin Laird\n\nButterfield left.","filename":["686a.mp3"],"tapeStart":"00:33:32","tapeEnd":"00:37:28","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Butterfield, Alexander P."],"prevCode":"686-007","nextCode":"686-009","tapeTranscriptFile":"686a.mp3","transcript":[{"start":2024.52,"end":2030.63,"text":"Yeah, uh, I had a phone call with the commissioner that he's on the mission, Rudy Walker, and Senator Rogers."},{"start":2030.95,"end":2032.89,"text":"Yes, I forgot to call him back."},{"start":2032.91,"end":2035.33,"text":"Yeah, he's out there, won't you catch him before he leaves?"},{"start":2035.45,"end":2038.53,"text":"Right now, instead of, I think he has first the..."},{"start":2038.59,"end":2040.12,"text":"The buzzer is on."},{"start":2040.17,"end":2045.54,"text":"So I briefly had the thing, and he said he hadn't heard, so I, I said I had to call him."},{"start":2046.08,"end":2048.62,"text":"Well, that's fine, because I ran into the phone."},{"start":2048.68,"end":2049.5,"text":"Yeah, yeah, yeah."},{"start":2051.38,"end":2055.01,"text":"He said that we might just let him have it alone."},{"start":2055.19,"end":2060.69,"text":"He could have it alone and take it back or other staff people if he wants."},{"start":2060.77,"end":2064.62,"text":"He doesn't want to then give it to layers."},{"start":2263.32,"end":2263.88,"text":"There is one."},{"start":2263.98,"end":2266,"text":"I don't hear her."}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":1984.875,"end":2278.25,"startMethod":"silence","endMethod":"silence"},"transcriptConfidence":"high","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield consulted on logistics regarding the use of Camp David by Secretary of State William P. Rogers. They discussed whether Rogers should occupy the facility alone or invite additional staff members and family. The discussion concluded with instructions for Butterfield to coordinate these details directly with H.R. Haldeman.","topics":["Camp David","William P. Rogers","H.R. Haldeman","White House logistics","Presidential facilities"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T02:38:12.174Z"},"topicSlugs":["camp-david","william-p-rogers","h-r-haldeman","white-house-logistics","presidential-facilities"],"audioDurationSec":236,"audioFiles":[{"file":"686a.mp3","bytes":84904436,"durationSec":3537.62,"bitrate":192003,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":true,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.978Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/686a.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/686-008","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/686/conversation-686-008","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}