Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 710 › Conversation 710-002

Nixon & Butterfield on Henry Kissinger and Oval Office scheduling

Monday, April 17, 1972 · 4:56 PM–4:59 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; White House operatorConversation710-002 on Tape 710 (tape position 00:02:26–00:03:38)StartMonday, April 17, 1972 at 4:56 PMEndMonday, April 17, 1972 at 4:59 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 710-002 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to coordinate administrative logistics and manage the arrivals of unidentified individuals, including Henry Kissinger. The discussion primarily focused on scheduling details and the sequence of meetings in the Oval Office. Butterfield confirmed the arrangement of these appointments before departing the office.

Audio

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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 00:02:26 into the tape and ends around 00:03:38.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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2:03Did you have Henry come in before they arrived?

2:04All right, sir.

2:04Are you expecting him to file for a certain role?

4:02Yeah, sure, fine.

4:03Oh, yeah.

4:03I know.

NARA Description

On April 17, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:56 pm and 4:59 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 710-002 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 710-2

Date: April 17, 1972
Time: Unknown after 4:56 pm until 4:59 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     [Signing documents]

The President talked with the White House operator at an unknown time between 4:56 and 4:59
pm.

[Conversation No. 710-2A]

[See Conversation No. 23-9]

[End of telephone conversation]

     The President's schedule
          -Tuesday event
               -Time

Butterfield left at 4:59 pm.

Also recorded on April 17, 1972

331-010 3:55 PM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, Manolo Sanchez, and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:55 pm to 4:48 pm.
023-009 4:56 PM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:56 pm and 4:59 pm.
710-001 4:56 PM · 44 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:56 pm and 4:59 pm.
023-010 4:59 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 4:59 pm to 5:02 pm.
710-003 4:59 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:59 pm to 5:02 pm.
710-004 5:02 PM · 47 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Melvin R. Laird, and Adm. Thomas H. Moorer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:02 pm to 5:50 pm.
710-005 5:50 PM · 53 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 5:50 pm and 11:59 pm.
023-011 5:56 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:56 pm and 8:11 pm.

All 48 conversations from April 17, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 710-002, April 17, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/710-002 (accessed October 12, 2026).