Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 705 › Conversation 705-010

Nixon, Butterfield & Bull on American Historical and Cultural Society

Monday, April 10, 1972 · 12:23 PM–12:25 PM ET · Oval Office · 58 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; Bull, Stephen B.Conversation705-010 on Tape 705 (tape position 03:09:48–03:11:38)StartMonday, April 10, 1972 at 12:23 PMEndMonday, April 10, 1972 at 12:25 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 705-010 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield and Stephen B. Bull to coordinate a brief, ceremonial meeting with the directors of the American Historical and Cultural Society, Inc. The discussion focused on logistical arrangements for the event, specifically the distribution of individual photographs and gifts to attendees, including J. Willard Marriott, Jr. and Katherine Swim. Nixon emphasized the importance of the photography session as a gesture of goodwill and oversaw final preparations for the group's visit.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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Okay, we're going to take a picture.
What is this?
It's just essentially a courtesy call.
I did an individual for this.
This is Bill .
Just a quick thank you.
Bill may want to spend some minutes telling you what they're doing now.
And Debbie's one of the widows.
We'll be giving them individual photographs as a token of openness and kindness.
That needs to be appropriate for this whole empire.
Let's see if there's anything else here.
Yeah, the individual photographs are really important.
We'll give you your gifts.
You don't have flags.

NARA Description

On April 10, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:23 pm and 12:25 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 705-010 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 705-10

Date: April 10, 1972
Time: Unknown between 12:23 pm and 12:25 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Stephen B. Bull and Alexander P. Butterfield.

     The President's schedule
          -Meeting with directors of American Historical and Cultural Society, Inc.
               -Photographs
               -J. Willard (“Bill”) Marriott, Jr.
               -Purpose of meeting
                      -Activities of Society
               -Katherine (Merrill) Swim
               -Dudley Swim
               -Photographs
                      -Gifts
                      -Background
                            -Flags

Bull and Butterfield left at an unknown time before 12:25 pm.

Also recorded on April 10, 1972

  • 705-009 11:45 AM · 38 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William J. Porter, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, and Oliver F. ("Ollie") Atkins met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:45 am to 12:23 pm.
  • 705-011 12:25 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Robert W. Barker, Arch N. Booth, William N. Burch, George Champion, Jr., Mary Pillsbury Lord, James P. Low, Leonard H. Marks, Herbert E. Marks, J. Willard Marriott, Alice (Sheets) Marriott, William J. McManus, Charles S. O???Malley, Jr., A. Pollard Simons, Katherine (Merrill) Swim, Walter E. Washington, C. Robert Yeager, John P. Cosgrove, John B. Kelly, Jr., David C. Hoopes, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:25 pm to 12:38 pm.
  • 705-012 12:38 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:38 pm and 12:44 pm.
  • 022-094 12:44 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:44 pm and 12:50 pm.
  • 705-013 12:44 PM · 22 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, Ronald L. Ziegler, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:44 pm to 1:06 pm.
  • 022-095 12:50 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 12:50 pm to 12:51 pm.
  • 022-096 12:51 PM · 8 sec — Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:51 pm and 12:59 pm.
  • 022-097 12:51 PM · 1 min — Henry A. Kissinger and Anatoliy F. Dobrynin talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 12:51 pm and 12:59 pm.

All 36 conversations from April 10, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 705-010, April 10, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/705-010 (accessed October 1, 2026).