Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 714 › Conversation 714-012

Nixon & Butterfield on Camp David and War Powers Bill

Thursday, April 20, 1972 · 12:03 PM–12:06 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation714-012 on Tape 714 (tape position 02:52:32–02:54:51)StartThursday, April 20, 1972 at 12:03 PMEndThursday, April 20, 1972 at 12:06 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 714-012 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to coordinate administrative logistics regarding his upcoming schedule and staff communications. The discussion touched upon briefings for Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler and the President's review of war powers legislation. The meeting concluded with preparations for Nixon’s departure to Camp David later that afternoon.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 168.2 MB ·Download MP3 (part 3) · 48.7 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 02:52:32 into the tape and ends around 02:54:51.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

2:52:35Good luck.
2:52:36All right, sir.
2:52:41John, when are you going to be camping?
2:52:43At 2 o'clock.
2:52:45I was great for this lunch, but because they had this particular audience, I thought I'd better do it all right.
2:54:30Oh, that's it.

NARA Description

On April 20, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:03 pm and 12:06 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 714-012 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 714-12

Date: April 20, 1972
Time: Unknown between 12:03 pm and 12:06 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
          -Location
                -Telephone call
          -Briefing
                -Ronald L. Ziegler

     The President's schedule
          -Camp David
          -The President's perusal of war powers bill
          -Meeting with Haig
               -Call from Butterfield

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 12:06 pm.

Also recorded on April 20, 1972

  • 023-047 11:46 AM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:46 am and 11:48 am.
  • 714-008 11:46 AM · 10 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at 11:46 am.
  • 714-009 11:46 AM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:46 am and 11:48 am.
  • 714-010 11:46 AM · 41 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:46 am and 11:48 am.
  • 023-048 11:48 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, and John D. Ehrlichman talked on the telephone from 11:48 am to 11:52 am.
  • 714-011 11:48 AM · 16 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:48 am to 12:03 pm.
  • 714-013 12:06 PM · 24 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:06 pm to 12:29 pm.
  • 023-049 12:07 PM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. talked on the telephone from 12:07 pm to 12:08 pm.

All 56 conversations from April 20, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 714-012, April 20, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/714-012 (accessed October 12, 2026).