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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-38
Dictation Belt 38 contains five sound recordings. Item 38.1 is a telephone conversation held in October 1962 between Secretary of State Dean Rusk and an unidentified man. They discuss requirements concerning missiles in Cuba, an issue related to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Machine noise precedes and follows the conversation. There is an echo during part of the recording. Item 38.2 is a brief telephone exchange in October 1962 between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor and operators. General Taylor asks an operator to place a call to his office and asks to speak to a colonel. The recording ends abruptly. Item 38.3 is a telephone conversation held in October 1962 between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. They discuss Cuba’s requirements regarding the removal of missiles. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 38.4 is a recording of President John F. Kennedy dictating a memorandum on the State Department's Agency for International Development (AID) program. Some speech is indistinct. Item 38.5 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) Adlai Stevenson. They discuss the blockade of Cuba. Most of Ambassador Stevenson’s speech is indistinct. The recording ends abruptly.Each item listed above is also available individually as an excerpt derived from this full-length digitized recording. See Related Records for more information.