{"conversationCode":"697-030","tapeNumber":697,"conversationNumber":30,"identifier":"37-wht-conversation-697-030","startDateTime":"1972-03-30T19:32:00.000Z","endDateTime":"1972-03-30T19:36:00.000Z","startDate":"30-Mar-1972","startTime":"2:32 PM","endDate":"30-Mar-1972","endTime":"2:36 PM","dateCertainty":"certain","timeCertainty":"estimated","participants":"Nixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.;","description":"On March 30, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 2:32 pm and 2:36 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 697-030 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. 697-30\n\nDate: March 30, 1972\nTime: 2:32 pm - unknown before 2:36 pm\nLocation: Oval Office\n\nThe President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.\n\n     Schedule [?]\n\nThe President and Butterfield left at an unknown time before 2:36 pm.","filename":["697a.mp3","697b.mp3","697c.mp3"],"tapeStart":"05:01:53","tapeEnd":"05:36:38","participantsList":["Nixon, Richard M. (President)","Butterfield, Alexander P."],"prevCode":"697-029","nextCode":"698-001","tapeTranscriptFile":"697a.mp3,697b.mp3,697c.mp3","transcript":[{"start":18119.92,"end":18120.66,"text":"You get the point?"},{"start":18120.9,"end":18132.46,"text":"This is where the, this is where, and this can go beyond this room, this is where the eventual theory and the initial theory completely falls apart."},{"start":18133.26,"end":18134.64,"text":"Where will it just leave Tom?"},{"start":18135.28,"end":18137.22,"text":"Why did he stand his act until the election?"},{"start":18139.03,"end":18139.77,"text":"That will not work."},{"start":18140.15,"end":18140.83,"text":"Don't you agree?"},{"start":18141.39,"end":18141.81,"text":"That's it."},{"start":18142.92,"end":18144.22,"text":"That's the big negative to that."},{"start":18144.86,"end":18146.96,"text":"Well, the negative is what they're going to do to the Congress."},{"start":18147.04,"end":18147.9,"text":"Not the Prince are."},{"start":18148.97,"end":18151.13,"text":"Unless we can say, well, it's all politics."},{"start":18154.55,"end":18155.53,"text":"That's not a good thing."},{"start":18155.55,"end":18157.73,"text":"Having an argument is a very undesirable option."},{"start":18158.19,"end":18160.31,"text":"It may not be the worst option, but it is."},{"start":18163.03,"end":18163.67,"text":"Well, okay."},{"start":18164.07,"end":18167.45,"text":"We've got to get ready for Mr. Lewis."},{"start":18167.65,"end":18168.53,"text":"Oh, yes."},{"start":18168.73,"end":18176.76,"text":"The Regs are asserting that Mr. Allen has a piece of jail that has not been, will not have been, that's insupported."},{"start":18177.92,"end":18178.22,"text":"It doesn't."},{"start":18178.26,"end":18181.3,"text":"Did you know that Mr. Allen was hospitalized?"},{"start":18181.58,"end":18185.02,"text":"You know, a lot of people had an examination that was requested."},{"start":18185.52,"end":18187.77,"text":"He would bring that up to get it to the district and... Oh, yeah."},{"start":18188.05,"end":18188.55,"text":"I'm sorry."},{"start":18190.46,"end":18191.98,"text":"He has no disease."},{"start":18192.12,"end":18193.4,"text":"It's all right."},{"start":18193.8,"end":18194.92,"text":"It's all right."},{"start":18194.94,"end":18196.58,"text":"It's all right."},{"start":18196.94,"end":18198.97,"text":"It's all right."},{"start":18199.87,"end":18200.51,"text":"It's all right."},{"start":18201.83,"end":18204.07,"text":"It's all right."},{"start":18285.83,"end":18286.07,"text":"Thank you."}],"transcriptBoundary":{"start":18119.375,"end":20198,"startMethod":"silence","endMethod":"tape_time"},"transcriptConfidence":"low","transcriptSource":"bigtape","aiSummary":{"text":"President Nixon and Alexander Butterfield review political strategy regarding the timing of upcoming electoral challenges and the potential fallout within Congress. They assess the risks of specific political narratives and discuss the status of an individual named Mr. Allen, including his recent hospitalization and the lack of a medical diagnosis. The discussion concludes with a focus on preparing for an upcoming meeting with a Mr. Lewis.","topics":["Political strategy","Electoral planning","Congressional relations","Alexander Butterfield","White House operations"],"generatedAt":"2026-04-07T02:49:39.842Z"},"topicSlugs":["political-strategy","electoral-planning","congressional-relations","alexander-butterfield","white-house-operations"],"audioDurationSec":2085,"audioFiles":[{"file":"697a.mp3","bytes":176061334,"durationSec":7335.82,"bitrate":192001,"missing":false},{"file":"697b.mp3","bytes":175942843,"durationSec":7330.89,"bitrate":192001,"missing":false},{"file":"697c.mp3","bytes":148018990,"durationSec":6167.38,"bitrate":192002,"missing":false}],"audioIsShared":true,"audioProbedAt":"2026-09-18T02:19:54.978Z","audio":["https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/697a.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/697b.mp3","https://nixon.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/audio/697c.mp3"],"url":"https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/697-030","nixonLibraryUrl":"https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/697/conversation-697-030","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work). AI-generated fields (transcript, aiSummary) are provided as-is without warranty."}