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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-05
In this interview Komer discusses working with McGeorge Bundy; the “inner circle” of the Bundy State Department; Komer’s major contacts; the intelligence system; the power and responsibilities of the State Department; how Bundy screened what President John F. Kennedy [JFK] would see; relations with other key officials; Robert F. Kennedy and foreign policy issues; the Bundy State Department and White House staff; the “little State Department” in the White House; the bureaucratic role of the State Department; U.S. foreign policy in Asia; relations with key U.S. Ambassadors; handling Arab-Israeli issues; domestic pressures of American-Jewish community on JFK; Arabists in the Kennedy Administration; working with Myer Feldman on Israeli issues; the United States, Saudi Arabia, and oil; filling the power vacuum left by the British; dealing with Congress on foreign aid matters; counterinsurgency; and looking back at programs during the Kennedy Administration, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-03
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses the 1962 steel crisis; some major issues and accomplishments of John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] presidency; choosing the U.S. Ambassador to Russia; foreign aid and treaties; the military coup in Peru; the space race during the Kennedy Administration; the 1962 congressional and gubernatorial campaigns; JFK’s dinner for the Nobel Prize winners; the Polaris submarines; problems with the New York Herald Tribune; New York politics; various pieces of federal legislation, 1961–1963; the Dominican Republic; Department of Justice investigations under RFK; the difficulties of being Attorney General; congressional issues in early 1963; the Vietnam War escalation in 1963; American support of the coup in Vietnam; Henry Cabot Lodge as the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam; the prisoners from the Bay of Pigs invasion; American actions in Cuba; unemployment and civil rights; RFK’s meeting with James Baldwin; JFK’s trips to the South and speeches on civil rights; the nuclear test ban treaty; and JFK’s trip to Ireland and Rome, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-02
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses the 1961 Berlin crisis; American forces, military and diplomatic, in Germany; John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] recommendation for Americans to have fallout shelters; nuclear testing; problems with the Department of State; the start of the conflict in Vietnam, 1961; the Department of Justice under RFK and organized crime; RFK’s difficult relationship with J. Edgar Hoover; the wiretapping bill; new federal judgeships in 1961 and other presidential appointments; the Alliance for Progress; Red China; crises during JFK’s presidency and how he was an optimist; RFK’s move for an income tax increase during the Berlin crisis; RFK’s disagreements with President JFK; indecisiveness over picking JFK’s running mate, 1960; the missile gap; fighting and UN operations in the Congo; Nikita S. Khrushchev’s speeches; RFK’s 1962 trip to Japan, Indonesia, Germany, and other countries; the release of Allen L. Pope; Dutch disputes in Southeast Asia; the 1961 crisis in the Dominican Republic and the assassination of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina; the 1962 disarmament conference in Geneva; Edward M. Kennedy’s 1962 campaign for U.S. Senate; the Kennedy family national and political reputation; the Justice Department under RFK and civil rights; and the 1962 steel crisis, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-01
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses beginning John F. Kennedy's [JFK] presidential Administration with no political obligations; carefully picking Cabinet members, specifically Secretaries of State, Defense, and Treasury; RFK’s decision on what role to play in JFK’s Administration; JFK’s unhappiness with Dean Rusk as Secretary of State; JFK’s advisers and other presidential appointments; Cabinet meetings; Department of Justice organization under RFK; the first 100 days of the Kennedy Administration; the role of the Vice President, according to RFK; JFK’s relationship with Lyndon B. Johnson and why JFK put Johnson on the ticket in 1960; what JFK was most concerned with as President; domestic programs versus foreign affairs in the Kennedy Administration; Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.’s role during JFK’s presidency; the Bay of Pigs, the aftermath, and its effect on JFK; how JFK approached problems as President; dealing with Georgi Bolshakov; negotiating with the Soviet Union in Vienna, over Laos and Cuba, etc.; JFK’s relationship with foreign heads of state; State Department staff and U.S. Ambassadors; the military coup in Vietnam; the Berlin crisis of the summer of 1961 and the Berlin Wall; RFK’s 1961 trip to the Ivory Coast; and Soviet and American nuclear testing, among other issues.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-25C-1
The recording of this conversation begins on Dictation Belt 25B.2 Sound recording of part of a telephone conversation held on August 12, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana. They continue to discuss arrangements for General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other Joint Chiefs, to speak to United States Senators about a treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). The Senators include Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi, his Preparedness Investigation Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Transcript included. This sound recording was originally recorded on Dictation Belt 25C, which contains additional sound recording(s) following this one. To hear all of the recordings on the Dictation Belt, see Digital Identifier: JFKPOF-TPH-25C, Title: Telephone recordings: Dictation Belt 25C.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-25C
Dictation Belt 25C contains two sound recordings. The recording of the conversation in item 25C.1 begins on Dictation Belt 25B.2 Item 25C.1 is a sound recording of part of a telephone conversation held on August 12, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana. They continue to discuss arrangements for General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other Joint Chiefs, to speak to United States Senators about a treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). The Senators include Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi, his Preparedness Investigation Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Item 25C.2 is a telephone conversation held on August 13, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Deputy Special Counsel to the President Myer “Mike” Feldman. They discuss options for dealing with “Life Line,” including some role for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The recording begins in mid-conversation, and machine noise follows the conversation.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-25B-2
Sound recording of part of a telephone conversation held on August 12, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana. They discuss arrangements for General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other Joint Chiefs, to speak to United States Senators about a treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). The Senators include Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi, his Preparedness Investigation Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.The recording of this conversation ends abruptly and continues on Dictation Belt 25C.1.
Transcript included. This sound recording was originally recorded on Dictation Belt 25B, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding this one. To hear all of the recordings on the Dictation Belt, see Digital Identifier: JFKPOF-TPH-25B, Title: Telephone recordings: Dictation Belt 25B.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-25B
Dictation Belt 25B contains two sound recordings. The recording of the conversation in item 25B.1 begins on Dictation Belt 25A.6. Item 25B.1 is part of a telephone conversation held on August 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Representative Martha W. Griffiths of Michigan. They continue to discuss their positions on a tax bill and its possible effects on the economy and politics. Following the conversation, there is machine noise and [White House Operator?] answers the telephone. Item 25B.2 is part of a telephone conversation held on August 12, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana. They discuss arrangements for General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other Joint Chiefs, to speak to United States Senators about a treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). The Senators include Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi, his Preparedness Investigation Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The recording of this conversation ends abruptly and continues on Dictation Belt 25C.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.