Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 719 › Conversation 719-021
Nixon & Butterfield on H.R. Haldeman and L. Patrick Gray III
Thursday, May 4, 1972 · 1:21 PM–1:24 PM ET · Oval Office
AI Summary
President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield held a brief, informal meeting in the Oval Office to coordinate the President's upcoming schedule and administrative logistics. The discussion touched upon the scheduling of meetings with H.R. Haldeman and Ronald Ziegler, as well as the timing of an announcement regarding L. Patrick Gray III. The participants also briefly exchanged remarks concerning public perception and the management of office materials.
Audio
Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.4 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 155.3 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 03:21:35 into the tape and ends around 03:22:53.
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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.
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NARA Description
On May 4, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:21 pm and 1:24 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 719-021 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 719-21
Date: May 4, 1972
Time: Unknown after 1:21 pm and before 1:24 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.
President's schedule
-Meeting with H. R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Location
-Executive Office Building [EOB]
-L[ouis] Patrick Gray, III announcement
-Meeting with Ronald L. Ziegler
Butterfield left at an unknown time before 1:24 pm.Also recorded on May 4, 1972
- 719-018 12:51 PM · 57 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:51 pm and 12:56 pm.
- 719-019 12:56 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Frank E. Fitzsimmons, Raymond Schoessling, Joseph Trerotola, William J. McCarthy, Welon L. Mathis, Charles W. Colson, White House photographer, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:56 pm to 1:21 pm.
- 719-020 1:21 PM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:21 pm and 1:24 pm.
- 719-022 1:24 PM · 26 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Alexander P. Butterfield, and Ronald L. Ziegler met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:24 pm to 1:51 pm.
- 719-023 1:51 PM · 1 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House on an unknown date, sometime between 1:51 pm on May 4, 1972 and 8:44 am on May 5, 1972.
- 023-151 1:52 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 1:52 pm and 2:51 pm.
- 334-037 1:52 PM · 3 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 1:52 pm and 2:51 pm.
- 334-038 1:52 PM · 19 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 1:52 pm and 2:51 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 719-021, May 4, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/719-021 (accessed October 12, 2026).