Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 707 › Conversation 707-011

Nixon & Butterfield on Canadian relations and Speechwriting

Wednesday, April 12, 1972 · 1:40 PM–2:47 PM ET · Oval Office · 2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation707-011 on Tape 707 (tape position 02:40:29–02:42:20)StartWednesday, April 12, 1972 at 1:40 PMEndWednesday, April 12, 1972 at 2:47 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 707-011 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to coordinate the final drafting and review process for an upcoming speech concerning Canadian relations. The discussion focused on incorporating feedback from Henry A. Kissinger and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. while finalizing the President's personal revisions. The meeting functioned as an administrative check-in to ensure the speech was ready for delivery.

Audio

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Position in tape: 02:40:29 – 02:42:20

part A, 1:00:30

707a.mp3

707b.mp3

NARA Description

On April 12, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 2:47 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 707-011 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 707-11

Date: April 12, 1972
Time: Unknown between 1:40 pm and 2:47 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     The President's Canadian speech draft
          -Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -Henry A. Kissinger's review
               -Time
          -The President's review
               -Time

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 2:47 pm.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

John did a good job.

And frankly, it's almost three o'clock at night, and I sat there, and Shelton was sitting there, and Stein was sitting there, and I thought of Richardson doing the lesson and the rest of it.

And goddammit, they just aren't good enough.

So you've got to put up your great man.

And Henry, basically, was a pale boy in comparison to him because he was too long.

But Henry at the time, Henry would waddle all over the place.

That was his single problem.

He educates Shredder himself.

Shredder, he has to respond to the whole thing.

Start punching the points that matter.

He still does well.

Well, why don't we suggest that

I will be available at 3 o'clock.

Also recorded on April 12, 1972

330-032 1:40 PM · 19 sec — 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 1:40 pm and 2:47 pm.
330-033 1:40 PM · 30 sec — 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 1:40 pm and 2:47 pm.
330-034 1:40 PM · 18 sec — 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 1:40 pm and 2:47 pm.
330-035 1:40 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 2:47 pm.
707-012 1:40 PM · 30 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:40 pm and 11:59 pm.
330-036 2:47 PM · 21 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Lee W. Huebner met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2:47 pm to 3:09 pm.
330-037 3:09 PM · 2 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 3:09 pm and 3:20 pm.
330-038 3:09 PM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 3:09 pm and 3:20 pm.

All 34 conversations from April 12, 1972 →

Nixon & Bull on Alexander M. Haig Jr. and Henry A. Kissinger January 21, 1973 · 1 min
Nixon, Woods & Bull on Robert L. King and Canadian relations December 2, 1971 · 4 min
Price & Butterfield on Presidential speeches and Speechwriting September 8, 1971 · 2 min
Nixon phone call with Woods on Speechwriting and Post-inaugural strategy October 7, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon & Price on Speechwriting and Public Policy February 7, 1972 · 2 min
Nixon & Butterfield on Camp David and War Powers Bill April 20, 1972 · 2 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 707-011, April 12, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/707-011 (accessed November 15, 2026).