Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 723 › Conversation 723-014

Nixon & Butterfield on Camp David and Secretarial support

Thursday, May 11, 1972 · 3:40 PM–3:45 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation723-014 on Tape 723 (tape position 01:57:23–02:01:38)StartThursday, May 11, 1972 at 3:40 PMEndThursday, May 11, 1972 at 3:45 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 723-014 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to coordinate logistics for an upcoming trip to Camp David. The discussion centered on arranging secretarial services and establishing standby procedures for the visit. Butterfield confirmed that the necessary personnel would be prepared for the trip.

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 01:57:23 into the tape and ends around 02:01:38.

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

1:57:24Well, we have the last three or four weeks, I guess we have.
1:57:37You've had something to do on each of those occasions.
1:57:42Well, we can do either.
1:57:42It might be good to have them.
1:57:45I don't know of anything, but, uh, you know... See, we can chop the line up.
1:57:49We can really get it there in about an hour and a half.
1:57:52The driver's there in an hour and a half.
1:57:56But don't bother this stuff, okay?
1:58:00All right, sir.
1:58:00We'll have one on standby here, so she's ready.
2:01:29Oh, I just wanted to tell you that... That's all right.
2:01:32I just wanted to tell you that I think we may be ready to go with everybody this morning.

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 3:40 pm and 3:45 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 723-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 723-14

Date: May 11, 1972
Time: Unknown after 3:40 pm and before 3:45 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

     President's trip to Camp David
          -Arrangements for secretarial services

Butterfield left at an unknown time before 3:45 pm.

Also recorded on May 11, 1972

  • 723-011 3:24 PM · 26 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:24 pm and 3:25 pm.
  • 723-012 3:25 PM · 13 min — President Richard M. Nixon and H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:25 pm to 3:39 pm.
  • 024-079 3:39 PM · 6 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 3:39 pm.
  • 024-080 3:39 PM · 40 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon talked on the telephone from 3:39 pm to 3:40 pm.
  • 723-013 3:39 PM · 32 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 3:39 pm and 3:40 pm.
  • 723-017 3:39 PM · 40 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 3:39 pm.
  • 723-015 3:45 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Rose Mary Woods, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:45 pm to 3:51 pm.
  • 723-016 3:51 PM · 51 min — President Richard M. Nixon, William P. Rogers, Henry A. Kissinger, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:51 pm to 4:44 pm.

All 35 conversations from May 11, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 723-014, 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/723-014 (accessed October 9, 2026).