Alexander Butterfield, the White House aide whose revelation of Richard Nixon's secret taping system hastened the president's resignation over the Watergate scandal, has died at the age of 99. His death was confirmed to the Associated Press by his wife, Kim, and John Dean, former White House counsel to Nixon.
Butterfield served as deputy assistant to Nixon from 1969 to 1973, overseeing a voice-activated taping system secretly installed in the Oval Office, cabinet room, and other locations. During a Senate committee investigation on 13 July 1973, he acknowledged the system's existence, leading to a public hearing three days later that stunned the nation.
The tapes ultimately exposed Nixon's role in the cover-up of the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex. Facing impeachment, Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974, after the Supreme Court ordered him to surrender the recordings.
Butterfield later expressed regret over his role, saying in a 2008 oral history, 'I didn't like to be the cause of that, but I felt that I was, in a lot of ways.' He left the White House to head the Federal Aviation Administration before being dismissed in 1975, which he believed was part of a political agreement.
