This Just In — The modern cliché is that “not all heroes wear capes.” Today’s remembrance from history proves that true.
In July of 1973, Alexander Butterfield, a high level staffer to President Richard Nixon, met in private with the staff for the Watergate Select Committee to answer questions about White House operations.
Nixon’s Counsel, John Dean, had testified to some deeply incriminating details of his boss’s crimes and coverup. Dean was stunningly specific and mentioned during his testimony that he thought there was a tape recording system in the Oval Office.
In his private meeting with staff, Butterfield was asked about there being such a system. He responded, “I’m sorry you asked that. Yes, there is a recording system.”
He would know. He oversaw its installation. Although the minority counsel, Fred Thompson, had hoped that discovering these recordings would impugn the Dean testimony, the tapes had a very different effect.
Eventually, the tapes demonstrated that John Dean had given a nearly verbatim account of conversations he’d had with Nixon and other attorneys in the Oval Office, a demonstration of his excellent memory and note-taking.
Butterfield answered questions about the taping system in his public testimony days later, kicking the door wide open to reveal the breadth and scope of Watergate’s damage to the American presidency.
Alexander Butterfield (AP Photo / File)
Butterfield was plainly a reluctant witness, but importantly, he had taken an oath to tell the truth to the committee and he fulfilled that oath. At the time of his testimony, he had already left the White House and was serving as FAA administrator, sparing him an awkward next day at work with the president.
It was just over a year later on July 23, 1974 that the Supreme Court ruled Nixon could not retain control over those tapes. Handing them over ended his presidency.
As for Mr. Butterfield, what an interesting life he had subsequently. He continued his education. He and his wife divorced about a decade later, he served on corporate boards and he spent some years in a relationship with Audrey Geisel, the widow of Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel.
The rhymes almost write themselves, right?
Did he record it with a box?
Was he recording wearing socks?
Did he tape it here or there?
Heck yeah, he taped it everywhere!
What I appreciate about Butterfield the most is that several years ago, when Trump staffer Cassidy Hutchinson gave a chilling account in public testimony of events in and around the Oval Office on January 6, 2021, she received a call from a surprising supporter — Alexander Butterfield.
He had seen her testimony on television and found it powerful and completely credible, so he reached out to let her know. They soon after had the chance to meet in person. Two American heroes who were just trying to serve their country and were caught up in a web of scandal and infamy not of their making.
Butterfield died in March of this year at age 99.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – [email protected] and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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