Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 768 › Conversation 768-020

Nixon, Haldeman & Ehrlichman on Oval Office meeting and Alexander Butterfield

Monday, August 14, 1972 · 12:49 PM–1:12 PM ET · Oval Office · 31 sec

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.; Nixon, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan); Ratchford, John J.; Haldeman, H. R. ("Bob"); Ehrlichman, John D.; Dean, John W., III; Alexander, John H.; Ritzel, Richard S.; White House photographer; Bull, Stephen B.Conversation768-020 on Tape 768StartMonday, August 14, 1972 at 12:49 PMEndMonday, August 14, 1972 at 1:12 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 768-020 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with White House staff including Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Dean, as well as his wife Pat and photographer Alexander Butterfield, in the Oval Office. The primary topic of discussion revolved around Ehrlichman's schedule. The meeting was brief and included personal elements, with a White House photographer present at the outset.

Audio

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NARA Description

On August 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Alexander P. Butterfield, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, John J. Ratchford, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, John W. Dean, III, John H. Alexander, Richard S. Ritzel, White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:49 pm to 1:12 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 768-020 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 768-20

Date: August 14, 1972
Time: 12:49 pm - 1:12 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield, Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon, John J. Ratchford,
H.R. (“Bob”) Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, John W. Dean, III; John H. Alexander, and
Richard S. Ritzel; the White House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

              Ehrlichman’s schedule

*****************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal returnable]
[Duration: 22m 55s    ]

Stephen B. Bull entered at an unknown time after 12:45 pm.

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

*****************************************************************

Butterfield et al. left at 1:12 pm.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Unknown[unintelligible]
UnknownCome on, boy. It's time to do that call yet?
UnknownCheck.

Also recorded on August 14, 1972

  • 768-012 12:07 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Samuel D. Winer, Mrs. Samuel D. Winer, Charles W. Colson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:07 pm to 12:09 pm.
  • 768-014 12:09 PM · 7 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Louella (Carver) Dirksen, Rose Mary Woods, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:09 pm to 12:17 pm.
  • 768-016 12:17 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Bailey K. Howard, Ronald L. Ziegler, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:17 pm to 12:38 pm.
  • 768-017 12:38 PM · 19 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:38 pm.
  • 768-018 12:39 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Robert A. Forst, L. John Evans, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:39 pm to 12:45 pm.
  • 768-019 12:45 PM · 54 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, and Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:45 pm and 12:49 pm.
  • 768-021 1:12 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:12 pm and 1:15 pm.
  • 768-022 1:15 PM · 29 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Oral Roberts, Wallace B. Henley, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 1:15 pm to 1:44 pm.

All 49 conversations from August 14, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 768-020, August 14, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/768-020 (accessed November 2, 2026).