Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-KGH-02
In this interview Heath discusses how she came to join the Office of Education; the leadership within the Office of Education and different ideas on how it should be run; other agencies within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare [HEW]; changes in the status and administration of HEW; various pieces of education legislation; the 1954 Supreme Court decision on separate but equal and segregation in schools; international education affairs; the reasons for pushing for general school aid over categorical aid; the 1955 White House conference on education; coalescing all the organizations within HEW into one voice for the Department; working with other Departments; the International Labor Organization and the United Nations; getting political support from the different presidential Administrations; the nationalization of the Suez Canal; the shift to considering social matters in a much broader context; the impact of the Sputnik launch on the Office of Education; and the National Defense Education Act, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-04
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses American aid to Argentina; American, British, and French involvement in Africa; the 1962 executive order about segregation in federally-funded housing; appointing African-American judges; changes John F. Kennedy [JFK] was contemplating in the Alliance for Progress; the Dominican crisis; the wheat sale to the Soviet Union; the Bobby Baker case; preparing for JFK’s 1964 campaign; RFK’s return to work after JFK’s assassination and disagreements among the Cabinet members and under President Lyndon B. Johnson; changes in White House staff and the Democratic Party; RFK’s political plans for after 1964; and JFK’s opinions of his staff and appointees, 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-JLF-01
Farmer discusses the 1960 presidential campaign; the relationship between Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the John F. Kennedy (JFK) administration, interactions with Robert F. Kennedy and the Justice Department, the Freedom Rides and other civil rights actions; and JFK’s impact on civil rights, among other issues.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-25A
Dictation Belt 25A contains six sound recordings. Item 25A.1 is a telephone conversation held on July 31, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon. They discuss an unidentified situation concerning United Air Lines. They also discuss Peru using aid money from the United States to buy gold. Item 25A.2 is a telephone conversation held on July 31, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Senator Russell B. Long of Louisiana. Senator Long raises an objection to an order requiring the state government of Louisiana to enforce compliance with a federal integration order on a highway project. Item 25A.3 is a brief telephone exchange between President John F. Kennedy and a White House Operator. When President Kennedy answers, the operator informs him that the call from Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John W. McCormack of Massachusetts is intended for Special Assistant to the President Kenneth O’Donnell. Item 25A.4 is a brief telephone exchange between an unidentified man and a White House Operator. The unidentified man asks for an outside line. Item 25A.5 is a telephone conversation held on August 6, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Special Assistant to the President Claude Desautels. They discuss the integration of African Americans into the federal workforce and plans for a field hearing in Philadelphia. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 25A.6 is part of a telephone conversation held on August 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Representative Martha W. Griffiths of Michigan. They discuss their positions on a tax bill and its possible effects on the economy and politics. Machine noise precedes the conversation, and the conversation begins in mid-sentence. The recording of this conversation ends abruptly and continues on Dictation Belt 25B.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-22B
Dictation Belt 22B contains four sound recordings from June 18, 1963. The recording of the conversation in item 22B.1 begins on Dictation Belt 22A.4. Item 22B.1 is a part of a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, Allen C. Thompson. They continue to discuss demonstrations and other aspects of the civil rights situation in Mississippi. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 22B.2 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Representative Wayne L. Hays of Ohio. They discuss a legislative strategy for a foreign aid bill, taking into account the negotiating stance taken by Representative Otto E. Passman of Louisiana. Machine noise precedes and follows the conversation. Item 22B.3 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, Allen C. Thompson. President Kennedy and Mayor Thompson discuss civil rights issues in Jackson, including demonstrations and civil unrest, plans to hire African Americans to fill various jobs, and the need to resolve matters in a way that various groups will accept. They also discuss consulting Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. At the beginning of the recording, [White House Operator?] addresses Mayor Thompson. Item 22B.4 is a brief telephone exchange between Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln and the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, Allen C. Thompson. Lincoln speaks to Mayor Thompson while trying to transfer his call to an outside line to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The recording ends abruptly.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.