Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 706 › Conversation 706-004
Nixon, Ehrlichman & Butterfield on Henry Kissinger and Democratic Party
Tuesday, April 11, 1972 · 2:57 PM–3:03 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Alexander Butterfield and John Ehrlichman to coordinate an upcoming briefing for prominent, hawkish Democrats including John Stennis, George Mahon, and F. Edward Hebert. Nixon emphasized that the session, led by Henry Kissinger, should avoid a strictly partisan tone to ensure effective engagement with these key legislators. The participants also briefly addressed scheduling concerns and administrative memoranda before concluding the meeting.
- Henry Kissinger
- Democratic Party
- National Security Briefings
- John Stennis
- Executive Scheduling
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.0 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 107.2 MB
This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 03:09:42 into the tape and ends around 03:14:58.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data
NARA Description
On April 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 2:57 pm to 3:03 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 706-004 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 706-4
Date: April 11, 1972
Time: 2:57 pm - 3:03 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield; the recording began at an unknown time while
the meeting was in progress.
The President's schedule
-Meeting with Clark MacGregor, Henry A. Kissinger and Democrats
-Briefing
-Day
-John C. Stennis
-George H. Mahon
-F. Edward Hebert
-Hawkish Democrats
-Kissinger's briefing
-Memoranda to be read
John D. Ehrlichman entered at 3:02 pm.
-Meeting with Ehrlichman and Peter G. Peterson
-Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.'s attendance
-Memorandum to be read
Butterfield and Ehrlichman left at 3:03 pm.Also recorded on April 11, 1972
- 022-109 2:06 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard M. Helms talked on the telephone from 2:06 pm to 2:08 pm.
- 329-021 2:06 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Richard M. Helms met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:06 pm to 2:08 pm.
- 329-022 2:08 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:08 pm and 2:45 pm.
- 329-023 2:08 PM · 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:08 pm and 2:45 pm.
- 329-024 2:08 PM · 30 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:08 pm and 2:45 pm.
- 329-025 2:08 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:08 pm and 2:45 pm.
- 329-026 2:45 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:45 pm to 2:55 pm.
- 706-005 3:06 PM · 1 hr 59 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Peter G. Peterson, John D. Ehrlichman, Peter M. Flanigan, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Stephen B. Bull, Manolo Sanchez, Arthur F. Burns, George P. Shultz, John B. Connally, and Frederic V. Malek met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:06 pm to 5:05 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 706-004, April 11, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/706-004 (accessed October 12, 2026).