Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 763 › Conversation 763-025
Nixon & Butterfield on White House administration and staff management
Monday, August 7, 1972 · 4:13 PM–4:25 PM ET · Oval Office ·8 min
AI Summary
President Nixon met with Alexander P. Butterfield to streamline the attendee lists for an upcoming official meeting and dinner. The President expressed a desire to reduce the number of participants, specifically aiming to separate his policy advisors from purely political activities and to ensure staff focused on substantive work rather than social obligations. They reviewed various senior staff members—including Henry Kissinger, John Ehrlichman, and Peter Flanigan—to determine who was essential for briefings versus those whose presence was unnecessary.
Audio
Transcript (AI-generated)
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NARA Description
On August 7, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:13 pm to 4:25 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 763-025 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 763-25
Date: August 7, 1972
Time: 4:13 pm – 4:25 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.
The President's schedule
-Forthcoming dinner and meeting
-Lists of attendees for dinner
-Lists of attendees for meeting
-Attendees
-John D. Ehrlichman
-Peter M. Flanigan
-Henry A. Kissinger
-Frederic V. Malek
-Committee to Re-elect the President [CRP]
-Separation of advisors from political activities
-Briefers
-Malek
-Jeb Stuart Magruder
-Kenneth S. Rietz
-Kissinger
-Ehrlichman
-Flannigan
-Kenneth R. Cole, Jr.
-Limits on size of political meetings
-Kissinger
59
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
-Foreign policy
-Ehrlichman
-Flanigan
-Cole
-Butterfield
-H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman
-Ehrlichman
-Flanigan
-Cole
-Butterfield
-Cabinet members
-Briefers
-Dinners
-Presence of advisors
-Ehrlichman
-Flanigan
-Kissinger
-Ehrlichman
-Flanigan
-Herbert Stein
-Flanigan
-John A. Scali
-Dr. Edward E. David, Jr.
-Stein
-Economy
-Ehrlichman
-Kissinger
-Ehrlichman
-Stein
-Flanigan
-The President's forthcoming meeting with Ehrlichman
-Number of attendees
-Robert J. Brown
-Charles W. Colson
-Harry S. Dent
-John N. Mitchell
[Signing documents]
The President talked with an unknown person at an unknown time between 4:13 pm and 4:25
pm.
60
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL MATERIALS STAFF
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Nov-03)
[Conversation No. 763-25A]
Unknown person’s schedule
[End of telephone conversation]
The President’s schedule
-Forthcoming meeting with Ehrlichman
Butterfield left at 4:25 pm.Also recorded on August 7, 1972
- 763-021 3:46 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Otto E. Passman, and William E. Timmons met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:46 pm to 3:51 pm.
- 763-023 3:51 PM · 20 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Peter M. Flanigan, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 3:51 pm to 4:12 pm.
- 763-024 4:12 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:12 pm and 4:13 pm.
- 763-026 4:25 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Henry A. Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:25 pm and 4:33 pm.
- 763-027 4:33 PM · 11 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:33 pm and 4:34 pm.
- 764-001 4:33 PM · 56 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, White House operator, and Anatoliy F. Dobrynin met in the Oval Office of the White House from 4:33 pm to 5:21 pm.
- 029-034 4:34 PM · 2 min — Henry A. Kissinger, Arthur F. Burns, and President Richard M. Nixon talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:34 pm and 5:21 pm.
- 029-035 4:34 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 4:34 pm and 5:23 pm.
Cite this conversation
Conversation 763-025, August 7, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/763-025 (accessed September 18, 2026).