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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-05
Brown discusses the U.S. and Soviet Union’s nuclear testing, the debate within the Kennedy Administration over whether to have atmospheric or underground testing, and negotiations leading to the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-04
Brown discusses the TFX (tactical fighter experimental) airplane, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and testifying before Congress, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-03
Brown discusses antiballistic missile programs, nuclear-armed aircraft, defense department appropriations, and radar systems, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-02
Brown discusses his job description; the factors that went into his, Robert S. McNamara’s, and John F. Kennedy’s decision making about whether or not a particular weapons system should be developed, and the Nike Zeus and Nike X missile systems, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-01
Brown discusses atmospheric nuclear testing by the U.S. and Soviet Union; overstatement of the nuclear threat from the Soviet Union during the Eisenhower administration, various missile systems; and the capabilities of the U.S.’ nuclear weapons, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-EDAG-04
In this interview Gullion discusses his impressions of President John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] character; JFK’s attitude toward and experience with disarmament; President JFK and the arts; and JFK’s concept of the presidency, among other issues.
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.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-PHN-03
This interview focuses on the Defense Department examining strategies for nuclear engagement and the United States negotiating with France about their nuclear program, among other topics.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-PHN-02
This interview focuses on a report Nitze wrote on nuclear weaponry and the Kennedy administration’s change in policy concerning nuclear weapons and defense strategies, among other topics.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-PHN-01
This interview focuses on Nitze’s time on the National Security Policy Committee, the workings of the Department of Defense, and the Kennedy administration’s approach to nuclear weapons, among other topics.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JKR-02
In this interview Ruina discusses the background of the nuclear test ban treaty, including the research and development to improve nuclear test detection capabilities; congressional hearings on the test ban and the nuclear detection technology; different political interests in the test ban debate; and some issues in getting the test ban signed, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JKR-01
In this interview Ruina discusses the Nike-Zeus antiballistic-missile-missiles; briefing President John F. Kennedy [JFK] on the Nike-Zeus missiles; JFK’s comprehension of the briefing material and the type of questions he asked; Project Defender; the background and organization of the Advanced Research Projects Agency; the leadership and organization of the Department of Defense; interactions with Robert S. McNamara; competition between the military and the Defense Department on research and development and for resources and congressional funds; the period of new, advanced—but not always useful—technology; and Project AGILE and counterinsurgency efforts in Vietnam, among other issues.
Textual folder
Richard E. Neustadt Personal Papers
RENPP-020-005
Textual folder
Richard E. Neustadt Personal Papers
RENPP-020-004
Sound recording
Edward M. Kennedy Senate Files
EMKSEN-AU0008-029-003
Sound recording of the radio program "Face Off." Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Alan K. "Al" Simpson of Wyoming debate defense spending and recent reports that the U.S. Department of Defense will cancel plans to produce a full fleet of 75 B-2 Stealth Bombers and will instead complete only the 15 that are already in production. The episode aired on Thursday, January 10, 1991, on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
Sound recording
Edward M. Kennedy Senate Files
EMKSEN-AU0009-028-006
Sound recording of the radio program "Face Off." Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Alan K. "Al" Simpson of Wyoming debate the proposal by some military experts at the Pentagon (Department of Defense) for the United States to end its self-imposed ban on nuclear weapons testing. The senators also comment on nuclear weapons testing by China and Russia. The episode aired on Wednesday, May 12, 1993, on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
Textual folder
William W. Kaufmann Personal Papers
WWKPP-001-003
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-333-013
This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 122 (NSAM 122) to Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, requesting an assessment of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Lauris Norstad’s response to a request by President John F. Kennedy for his views on command and control procedures for employment of nuclear weapons.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-332-018
This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 116 (NSAM 116) titled, “Instructions from President as a result of November 30 meeting re: atmospheric testing,” to Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC); Secretary of State Dean Rusk; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; and Jerome B. Wiesner, Special Assistant to the President on Science and Technology, from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Also included are copies of a report titled, “A Program to Explain U.S. Position on Testing in the Atmosphere,” by a sub-committee of the National Security Council Committee on Atmospheric Testing Policy, chaired by Director of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-332-014
This file contains a copy of National Security Action Memoranda number 112 (NSAM 112) titled, “Atmospheric Testing Policy,” to Secretary of State Dean Rusk; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC); and Jerome B. Wiesner, Special Assistant to the President on Science and Technology, from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Also included are a memorandum from Chairman Seaborg to President John F. Kennedy on the atmospheric test program, and a list of nuclear weapons tests conducted by the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-341-005
This file contains a copy of National Security Action Memoranda number 245 (NSAM 245) titled, “High Yield Nuclear Weapons,” to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Glenn T. Seaborg from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-340-028
This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 240 (NSAM 240) titled, “MLF [multilateral force],” to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Glenn T. Seaborg from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.