Александр Баттерфилд: от военного летчика до помощника Никсона

American retired military officer, public servant, and businessman

Alexander Porter Butterfield (born April 6, 1926) 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 was born April 6, 1926, in Pensacola, Florida, to Susan Armistead Alexander Butterfield and United States Navy pilot (later rear admiral) Horace B. Butterfield. He grew up in Coronado, California, and left home in 1943. Butterfield enrolled in college at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he became a friend of H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman. He left the university to join the United States Air Force in 1948. Initially, Butterfield was stationed at Las Vegas Air Force Base (now Nellis Air Force Base) as a fighter gunnery instructor before being transferred to the 86th Fighter Wing in Munich, West Germany, in November 1951, where he was a member of the スカイブレイザーズ jet fighter acrobatic team. He later served as the operations officer of a fighter interceptor squadron in Knoxville, Tennessee, before being promoted to commander of a fighter squadron at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. During the Vietnam War, Butterfield commanded a squadron of low and medium level combat tactical air reconnaissance aircraft. He flew 98 combat missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1965 and 1966, Butterfield served as the military assistant to the special assistant to the Secretary of Defense, where he became a friend of Alexander Haig. He also gained extensive experience working at the White House, where he spent half his time. He advanced to the rank of colonel and, beginning in 1967, was serving in Australia as the F 111 project officer; representative for the commander in chief of the Pacific forces; and senior U. S. military representative.

As deputy assistant to the president, Butterfield was Haldeman's chief assistant. His first few days in the White House were difficult. Butterfield did not meet the president for 13 days. When Haldeman finally introduced Butterfield to Nixon, their meeting was short and awkward. Senator Baker informed Dash before the hearing began that, since a Republican (Sanders) had elicited the testimony from Butterfield on July 13, he wanted Republican Chief Minority Counsel Thompson to question Butterfield during the hearing. Baker did not want the Republicans to look as if they had been caught by surprise. The New York Times called Butterfield's testimony "dramatic", Federal law, however, required that the Administrator be a civilian, not an active duty or retired military officer. President Nixon sought legislation to waive this requirement for Butterfield, but it was not forthcoming. Subsequently, in February 1973 Butterfield resigned from the Air Force Reserves, giving up a $10,000 a year pension. President Nixon withdrew Butterfield's nomination on February 26, 1973, and resubmitted it to the Senate the same day. Butterfield was confirmed on March 12, 1973, and he resigned as Deputy Assistant to the President on March 14. United States Secretary of Transportation Claude Brinegar often criticized Butterfield for being lax on aviation safety, allegations Butterfield strongly denied. Butterfield did not retain his position, although the White House allowed him to take several months before resigning. and left the government on March 31, 1975.

Butterfield struggled for two years to find employment after leaving the federal government. Butterfield is a major source for Bob Woodward's 2015 book The Last of the President's Men. Butterfield retained an extensive number of records when he left the White House, some of them historically important, including the "zilch" memo, which helped form part of the basis for the book. Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide in the Trump administration, testified to the January 6 Committee that she drew on Butterfield’s experience and example when deciding to go back to the Committee to testify fully and truthfully, despite significant legal and political pressure from Trump world. Butterfield said that Cassidy Hutchinson will be an inspiration to other young people, and asked Hutchinson to promise to help out someone if they are in a similar situation in the future.

Butterfield married Charlotte Maguire in 1949. They divorced in 1985. Butterfield moved to La Jolla, California, in 1992, where he was a close friend of (and sometimes dated) Audrey Geisel, the widow of Theodor Geisel (the author of children's books, known as "Dr. Seuss"). He returned to school, obtaining a master's degree in history from the University of California, San Diego. as of 2015, he was working on a Ph. D. in history, with a focus on the presidential power to pardon. He remains active on the boards of directors of several corporations.