Alexander Butterfield, the former White House deputy aide whose disclosure of President Richard Nixon's secret taping system provided the "smoking gun" that led to Nixon's resignation, has died at the age of 99. His death was confirmed by his wife at his home in La Jolla, San Diego, a month shy of his 100th birthday.
A native of Pensacola, Florida, Butterfield joined the US Air Force in 1948 and served as a combat pilot in Vietnam before moving into government service. He became deputy to Nixon's chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, and was responsible for keeping historical records of the presidency, which included overseeing installation of the voice-activated recording system.
In 1973, during preliminary questioning by the Senate Watergate Committee, Butterfield confirmed the existence of the recording devices. His revelation stunned the nation, providing incontrovertible evidence of Nixon's involvement in the Watergate cover-up. While Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment, Butterfield was never implicated in the scandal.
Butterfield later served as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and advised Oliver Stone for the 1995 film Nixon, even appearing in a cameo role. Known for his reflections on his time in the Nixon administration, he once remarked that Nixon should have resigned earlier and described the White House under Nixon as a "cesspool" of isolation and resentment.