Alexander Porter Butterfield is a retired United States Air Force officer, public servant, and businessman. He served as the deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973. He revealed the White House taping system's existence on July 13, 1973, during the Watergate investigation but had no other involvement in the scandal. From 1973 to 1975, he served as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Butterfield in 1969
Tape recorder from President Nixon's Oval Office
Left to right: Fred Thompson, Sen. Howard Baker, and Sen. Sam Ervin during the Senate Watergate Committee hearings
Butterfield at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in 2016
Audio recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and Nixon administration officials, Nixon family members, and White House staff surfaced during the Watergate scandal in 1973 and 1974, leading to Nixon's resignation.
Richard Nixon's Oval Office tape recorder
Rose Mary Woods attempting to demonstrate how she may have inadvertently created the gap
Uher 5000 with evidence tags
Nixon releasing the transcripts