Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 776 › Conversation 776-003

Nixon & Butterfield on Ray Charles and White House protocol

Thursday, September 14, 1972 · 8:57 AM–9:02 AM ET · Oval Office ·2 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Butterfield, Alexander P.Conversation776-003 onTape 776StartThursday, September 14, 1972 at 8:57 AMEndThursday, September 14, 1972 at 9:02 AMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 776-003 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield discussed the logistical and political merits of potentially hosting musician Ray Charles at the White House. The conversation addressed concerns raised by staff members Dwight Chapin and Charles Colson regarding the optics of the invitation. Nixon ultimately decided to proceed with a brief meeting while explicitly mandating that no official photographs be taken during the event.

Ray Charles
White House protocol
Public relations
Scheduling
Photography policy

Audio

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 Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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uh... uh...

Yeah.

Do you want to know if he's going to come in?

Does he have to come in?

No, he's not.

Oh, well, I don't think so.

It's just our group will wear these here.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I think that once we get to him, once we know he wants to come in, I don't think we should do it.

Uh, I mean, it's got to be done in a way that that's seriously weird for him.

I don't know.

I know he's alive.

That's good.

But, uh, if they could do it in a different way, I don't mind.

They don't need to have any, I guess, I guess have any, uh, polyacid pictures.

That's good.

But I don't know if the way that we're asking him is hyper-explanatory.

We can do it that way without any pictures.

No pictures, okay.

I don't care about that.

The hearing would like to be for about 8 to 10 minutes, sometimes before, another hour.

That would be great right now.

NARA Description

On September 14, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:57 am to 9:02 am. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 776-003 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 776-3

Date: September 14, 1972
Time: 8:57 am - 9:02 am
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Alexander P. Butterfield.

             The President's schedule
                 -Ray Charles
                     -Possible invitation to White House
                          -Dwight L. Chapin's view
                          -Charles W. Colson’s view
                     -North Carolina
                     -The President’s view
                     -Merits of a meeting
                          -Oliver F. (“Ollie”) Atkins's pictures

                                        (rev. Oct-06)

                  -Alexander M. Haig, Jr. meeting
                  -Nelson A. Rockefeller

Butterfield left at 9:02 am.

Also recorded on September 14, 1972

776-001 8:16 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:16 am and 8:57 am.
776-002 8:16 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 8:16 am and 8:57 am.
776-004 9:18 AM · 32 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:18 am to 9:50 am.
776-005 9:50 AM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:50 am and 9:57 am.
776-006 9:50 AM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:50 am and 9:57 am.
776-007 9:50 AM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:50 am and 9:57 am.
776-008 9:57 AM · 43 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Stephen B. Bull, Thelma C. ("Pat") (Ryan) Nixon, Rogers C. B. Morton, John C. Whitaker, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:57 am to 11:23 am.
776-009 11:23 AM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and John D. Ehrlichman met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 11:23 am and 11:28 am.

All 29 conversations from September 14, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 776-003, September 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/776-003 (accessed September 18, 2026).