Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 688 › Conversation 688-007

Nixon & Butterfield on White House administration and Memorandum delivery

Saturday, March 18, 1972 · 12:00 PM–12:01 PM ET · Oval Office · 10 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation688-007 on Tape 688 (tape position 01:01:09–01:14:12)StartSaturday, March 18, 1972 at 12:00 PMEndSaturday, March 18, 1972 at 12:01 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 688-007 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met briefly with Alexander P. Butterfield to arrange for the immediate delivery of a specific memorandum. The interaction served solely as a functional exchange to ensure the document reached its intended recipient. No other policy matters or substantive discussions occurred during this one-minute encounter.

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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There, would you see that that gets down?

NARA Description

On March 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:00 pm to 12:01 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 688-007 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 688-7

Date: March 18, 1972
Time: 12:00 pm - 12:01 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield [?].

      Memorandum
         -Delivery
              -Clark MacGregor

Butterfield [?] left.

Also recorded on March 18, 1972

  • 688-005 11:52 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:52 am to 11:53 am.
  • 688-006 11:53 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:53 am to 11:59 am.
  • 688-008 12:01 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:01 pm and 12:10 pm.
  • 021-109 12:10 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 12:10 pm to 12:11 pm.
  • 688-009 12:10 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:10 pm to 12:11 pm.
  • 688-010 12:11 PM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:11 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 688-011 12:11 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:11 pm and 12:15 pm.
  • 688-012 12:15 PM · 50 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm.

All 24 conversations from March 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 688-007, March 18, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/688-007 (accessed October 3, 2026).