{"conversationCode":"688-017","tapeNumber":688,"conversationNumber":17,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-688-017","startDateTime":"1972-03-18T18:22:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-03-18T18:24:00.000Z","startDate":"18-Mar-1972","startTime":"1:22 PM","endDate":"18-Mar-1972","endTime":"1:24 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.;","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.","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. 688-17\n\nDate: March 18, 1972\nTime: Unknown between 1:22 pm and 1:24 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.\n\n     The President's schedule\n          -White House church services\n\f                -Southern Baptists\n                     -Leader (President)\n                          -Fred B. Rhodes\n                                -Veterans Administration\n                                     -Donald E. Johnson\n                                -Preacher\n                                -Note from Dan [Surname unknown] Conv. No. 688-19 (cont.)\n                                -Johnson\n\nButterfield left at an unknown time before 1:24 pm.","filename":["688-017.mp3"],"tapeStart":"02:25:41","tapeEnd":"02:28:29","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Butterfield, Alexander P."],"prevCode":"688-016","nextCode":"688-018","transcript":[{"start":6.58,"end":12.95,"text":"Yes, Fred Rose has been pushing it for some time, and he's coming up for the presidency of the Southern Baptist League."},{"start":13.01,"end":13.25,"text":"Who is he?"},{"start":13.29,"end":14.21,"text":"He's the WPA administrator."},{"start":14.23,"end":16.13,"text":"He's down in Johnson, Virginia."},{"start":16.95,"end":19.03,"text":"Oh, he's a preacher."},{"start":19.11,"end":21.17,"text":"He's a preacher."},{"start":21.19,"end":21.57,"text":"Who's that?"},{"start":26.31,"end":27.57,"text":"He's a hell of a fine man."},{"start":27.69,"end":28.09,"text":"Fine?"},{"start":28.29,"end":28.95,"text":"I'm married."},{"start":29.15,"end":30.36,"text":"Oh, my hell, that's great."},{"start":30.45,"end":31.16,"text":"I am married."},{"start":31.32,"end":32.18,"text":"There's no doubt about him."},{"start":32.28,"end":32.8,"text":"Thank God."},{"start":32.86,"end":33.24,"text":"Very good."},{"start":33.26,"end":35.76,"text":"So Don Johnson will be here soon."},{"start":35.8,"end":45.7,"text":"At the time."},{"start":57.15,"end":57.44,"text":"That's right."}],"aiSummary":{"text":"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.","topics":["White House church services","Southern Baptists","Fred B. Rhodes","Donald E. Johnson","Presidential schedule"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T02:40:33.660Z"},"topicSlugs":["white-house-church-services","southern-baptists","fred-b-rhodes","donald-e-johnson","presidential-schedule"],"audioDurationSec":62,"audioFiles":[{"file":"688-017.mp3","bytes":2473060,"durationSec":61.68,"bitrate":320778,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":false,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.664Z","findingAidSource":"nixonlibrary.gov subject log (2024-05), reslice-v2","findingAidUpdatedAt":"2026-09-18T08:44:18.241Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/688-017.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/688-017","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/688/conversation-688-017","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}