Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 723 › Conversation 723-006

Nixon & Butterfield on International Trade and Agriculture

Thursday, May 11, 1972 · 11:01 AM–11:02 AM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation723-006 on Tape 723 (tape position 00:58:12–00:58:43)StartThursday, May 11, 1972 at 11:01 AMEndThursday, May 11, 1972 at 11:02 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 723-006 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to debrief on a recent meeting, specifically inquiring whether any significant issues were addressed. Butterfield characterized the interaction as a routine business courtesy call rather than a high-stakes negotiation. Despite the informal nature of the exchange, he confirmed that they discussed substantive matters involving trade relations, including agricultural and industrial products.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 167.1 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 83.6 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 00:58:12 into the tape and ends around 00:58:43.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.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

58:29for me to say there, so I left.
58:30There was nothing extraordinary in it?
58:32No, we had a business courtesy call.
58:34There was substantive conversation about our online problems, trade, trade, including agriculture, industrial products, and so forth.

NARA Description

On May 11, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:01 am and 11:02 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 723-006 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 723-6

Date: May 11, 1972
Time: Unknown after 11:01 am and before 11:02 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

      Signatures

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 11:02 am.

Also recorded on May 11, 1972

  • 723-007 11:02 AM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Ronald L. Ziegler, unknown person(s), and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:02 am to 11:21 am.
  • 723-008 11:21 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:21 am and 11:22 am.
  • 024-071 11:22 AM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:22 am and 11:32 am.
  • 024-072 11:22 AM · 15 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:22 am and 11:32 am.
  • 338-037 11:22 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:22 am and 11:32 am.
  • 024-073 11:32 AM · 25 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson talked on the telephone from 11:32 am to 11:33 am.
  • 338-038 11:32 AM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles W. Colson met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 11:32 am and 11:33 am.
  • 024-074 11:34 AM · 1 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Tricia Nixon Cox talked on the telephone from 11:34 am to 11:35 am.

All 35 conversations from May 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 723-006, May 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/723-006 (accessed October 9, 2026).