- Alexander Butterfield
Alexander Porter Butterfield (born
April 6 ,1926 ) was the deputy assistant toRichard Nixon from 1969 until 1973. He was a key figure in theWatergate scandal .Flying career
Butterfield was born in
Pensacola, Florida where his father, Horace B. Butterfield, was a pilot for theUnited States Navy . He grew up inCoronado, California . Butterfield became fascinated by flying, and duringWorld War II , when he failed the Naval Academy's eye test, went to theUnited States Army Air Force , where he was accepted. He flew the LockheedP-38 Lightning in the Pacific Theater. He remained flying with the USAAF and theUnited States Air Force after the end of the war. In theVietnam War , he commanded a squadron of low-level reconnaissance aircraft and won the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1968 he was project officer for theGeneral Dynamics F-111 and a senior Defense Department representative inAustralia with the rank of Colonel.During his military career, he also earned a
Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland in 1956, and aMaster of Science degree fromGeorge Washington University . [ [http://nixon.archives.gov/forresearchers/find/textual/butterfield.php Entry on Butterfield from the Nixon Presidential Library] ]White House assistant
H. R. Haldeman , the chief of staff to President-electRichard Nixon , knew Butterfield from having studied with him at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles and invited him to take early retirement from the USAF and become Deputy Assistant to the President. Butterfield was highly regarded for his dedication to the job which led him to work very long hours. He was a deputy to Haldeman and aside from routine matters such as visitor tours of theWhite House , Butterfield provided briefing papers for the President. Among his responsibilities was the setting of Nixon's schedule and the maintenance of his historical records, which included the operations of the secret taping system which Nixon had installed in theWhite House . [ [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761581480/alexander_butterfield.html Entry on Butterfield from Encarta] ]Taping system
When Nixon was re-elected, Butterfield was appointed on
December 19 ,1972 as administrator of theFederal Aviation Administration . He was routinely asked to appear before theUnited States Senate committee headed bySam Ervin and was interviewed by staff of the committee onJuly 13 ,1973 , prior to going before the Senators.John Dean had previously mentioned that he suspected White House conversations were taped, and the committee was therefore routinely asking witnesses about it. Butterfield did not want voluntarily to tell the committee of the system but had decided before the hearing that he would have to if asked a direct question.As it happened, Butterfield was asked the direct question by the minority (Republican) counsel,
Donald Sanders . He told the staff members that "everything" was taped ... as long as the President was in attendance. There was not so much as a hint that something should "not be taped"." [cite book
last = Kutler
first = Stanley I
title = Abuse of Power
publisher = Simon and Schuster
date = 2000
pages = p 638
id = ISBN 0684864894] All present recognized the significance of this disclosure and Butterfield was hastily put before the full Committee onJuly 16 to put the taping system on the record. Chief Minority Counsel,Fred Thompson , catapulted himself into history by asking "Mr. Butterfield, are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the president?"Post-Watergate
Butterfield was not involved in the Watergate cover-up and was therefore not prosecuted. He remained at the FAA under
Gerald Ford until he resigned onMarch 31 ,1975 . He then became a business executive.Butterfield was among those who correctly guessed the identity of Watergate informant "Deep Throat" prior to the disclosure in 2005. He told "The
Hartford Courant " in 1995, "I think it was a guy named Mark Felt."Butterfield's son, Alexander Butterfield Junior, is also in the US Navy. He is currently a captain and Commander of the
Office of Naval Intelligence .References
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