Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 688 › Conversation 688-017

Nixon & Butterfield on White House church services and Southern Baptists

Saturday, March 18, 1972 · 1:22 PM–1:24 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation688-017 on Tape 688 (tape position 02:25:41–02:28:29)StartSaturday, March 18, 1972 at 1:22 PMEndSaturday, March 18, 1972 at 1:24 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 688-017 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield discussed the upcoming White House church service and the candidacy of Fred B. Rhodes for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention. The participants reviewed Rhodes' professional background as a Veterans Administration official and confirmed his status as a preacher. The brief exchange served to finalize arrangements for the involvement of Rhodes and VA Administrator Donald E. Johnson in the scheduled religious activities.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Yes, Fred Rose has been pushing it for some time, and he's coming up for the presidency of the Southern Baptist League.
Who is he?
He's the WPA administrator.
He's down in Johnson, Virginia.
Oh, he's a preacher.
He's a preacher.
Who's that?
He's a hell of a fine man.
Fine?
I'm married.
Oh, my hell, that's great.
I am married.
There's no doubt about him.
Thank God.
Very good.
So Don Johnson will be here soon.
At the time.
That's right.

NARA Description

On March 18, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:22 pm and 1:24 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 688-017 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 688-17

Date: March 18, 1972
Time: Unknown between 1:22 pm and 1:24 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     The President's schedule
          -White House church services
                -Southern Baptists
                     -Leader (President)
                          -Fred B. Rhodes
                                -Veterans Administration
                                     -Donald E. Johnson
                                -Preacher
                                -Note from Dan [Surname unknown] Conv. No. 688-19 (cont.)
                                -Johnson

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 1:24 pm.

Also recorded on March 18, 1972

  • 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.
  • 688-012 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.
  • 688-013 1:16 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Marjorie P. Acker met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:16 pm to 1:17 pm.
  • 688-014 1:20 PM · 50 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:20 pm to 1:21 pm.
  • 688-015 1:21 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Marjorie P. Acker met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:21 pm to 1:22 pm.
  • 688-016 1:22 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:22 pm and 1:24 pm.
  • 688-018 1:24 PM · 2 hr 14 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, Charles W. Colson, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, Helen Drown, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:24 pm to 3:40 pm.
  • 021-110 2:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Julie Nixon Eisenhower talked on the telephone from 2:21 pm to 2:22 pm.

All 24 conversations from March 18, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 688-017, 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/688-017 (accessed October 3, 2026).