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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.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-18-B
AR28, KN24
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24647
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy; Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz (mostly hidden); Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby; Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner; Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Walter W. Heller (on edge of frame). Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24646
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy (mostly hidden); Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz (mostly hidden); Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby; Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24645
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy (mostly hidden); Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz (mostly hidden); Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver (face obscured); Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby; Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24644
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy (face obscured); Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby; Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner; Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Walter W. Heller. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24643
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (mostly hidden); Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy; Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner; Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner; Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Walter W. Heller. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7550-C
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver (hidden behind Webb); Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne (hidden behind Day); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy; Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Administrator of the Veterans Administration (VA), General John S. Gleason, sits at far left in front of bookcase; Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), Bernard L. Boutin, sits next to Gleason. Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby, sits at far right in front of window; Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner, sits next to Halaby. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.