For Immediate Release: June 24, 1997
Further information: Tom McNaught (617) 514-1662
Boston, MA — The John F. Kennedy Library today announced that it has made available for research approximately 24 hours of tape recordings of meetings and conversations that took place in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room at the White House from August through October 1963. The conversations between President John F. Kennedy and his advisors concern U.S. policy toward Vietnam, Laos, Korea, Portuguese Africa, Berlin, China and the USSR.
Of principal interest are discussions of the events leading up to and including the overthrow and assassination of South Vietnam’s President Ngo Dinh Diem in November 1963.
Declassification and release of these tape recordings represent the largest quantity of tape-recorded material, totaling 23 hours and 53 minutes, released by the Library at one time. In October 1996, the Library released more than 15 hours of tape recordings of President Kennedy’s and his advisors’ discussions concerning the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
The John F. Kennedy Library is currently undergoing an unprecedented declassification effort under the auspices of President Clinton’s Executive Order 12598 which mandates that all documents containing national security classified information will have been reviewed with the goal of opening them by the year 2000.
As with previous releases in July and December 1994, and October 1996, this release is in tape form without transcripts.
The tapes represent raw historical material. The sound quality of the recordings varies widely. Although most of the recorded conversation is understandable, the tapes include passages of extremely poor sound quality with considerable background noise and passages when the identity of the speakers is unclear.
The recordings and finding guide are available for purchase at the John F. Kennedy Library, Columbia Point, Boston, MA 02125, or by calling (617) 929- 4529.