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Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-26A
Dictation Belt 26A contains six sound recordings. Item 26A.1 is a telephone conversation held on August 16, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. In preparation for Secretary Rusk’s press conference, they discuss the prospect of answering a question about France and a treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). The recording begins in mid-conversation, and machine noise follows the conversation. Item 26A.1A is a telephone conversation between Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln and a White House Operator. The operator brings Lincoln up to date on President John F. Kennedy’s recent telephone calls. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 26A.2 is a telephone conversation held on August 16, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. They discuss the possibility of appointing United States Ambassador to Costa Rica Raymond L. Telles to a new position. They also discuss the prospects of political problems in California, where Latin American groups could resent a perceived favoritism in appointments given to Texans. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 26A.3 is a telephone conversation held on August 19, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Under Secretary of State George W. Ball. They discuss foreign aid given to countries that engage in merchant shipping to Cuba. They also discuss foreign aid for India and negotiations with the Soviet Union on nuclear test inspections. They also discuss American troops in Europe and German officials’ views on the matter. Item 26A.4 is a brief telephone exchange between President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Attorney General Kennedy asks to visit President Kennedy to review an unidentified matter. Item 26A.5 is a brief fragment of a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and an unidentified man. The recording is noisy and ends abruptly. The full conversation (including this fragment) is recorded on Dictation Belt 26B.Transcript included. Each item listed above is also available individually as an excerpt derived from this full-length digitized recording. See Related Records for more information.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-06B
Dictation Belt 6B contains seven sound recordings. The recording of the conversation in item 6B.1 begins on Dictation Belt 6A.4. Item 6B.1 is part of a telephone conversation held on November 7, 1962, between President John F. Kennedy and Governor-elect John B. Connally of Texas. They continue to discuss Texas’s 1962 election results and Texas politics. Item 6B.2 is a telephone conversation held on November 7, 1962, between President John F. Kennedy and Governor-elect John W. Reynolds of Wisconsin. They discuss Wisconsin’s 1962 gubernatorial election. Unintelligible speech precedes the telephone conversation. Item 6B.3 is inconsequential office chatter spoken by President John F. Kennedy and Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln. This is not a telephone conversation, but rather a conversation recorded when the telephone was left off the hook. It is a very poor quality recording. Item 6B.4 is a telephone conversation held on November 17, 1962, between President John F. Kennedy and an unidentified man. The man reports on a Cuban sabotage plot. The dictation belt skips throughout leaving many gaps in the conversation. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 6B.5 is a brief fragment of a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and an unidentified man. The topic of discussion is unclear. The recording begins in mid-conversation and is noisy. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 6B.6 is a brief fragment of a conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln. The topic of discussion is unclear. This is not a telephone conversation, but rather a conversation recorded when the telephone was left off the hook. It is a very poor quality recording, and the conversation is unintelligible. Item 6B.7 is a telephone conversation held on December 17, 1962, between President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. They discuss Skybolt in preparation for President Kennedy’s Nassau, Bahamas, meeting with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan of Great Britain. The recording is noisy and begins in mid-conversation. The dictation belt skips. The recording of this conversation ends abruptly and continues on Dictation Belt 6C.1. Transcript included. Each item listed above is also available individually as an excerpt derived from this full-length digitized recording. See Related Records for more information.