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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-08
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] Cabinet and appointing the various secretaries; problems in and JFK’s wariness of the Department of State; the ideal State Department organization; problems with Dean Rusk; Maxwell D. Taylor’s Cuba investigation; the Bay of Pigs and its effect on U.S. action in Laos; John McCone’s prediction of missiles in Cuba; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and foreign policy; JFK’s vice-presidential choice at the 1960 Democratic National Convention; Johnson’s hesitant acceptance of the vice-presidential slot; RFK’s appointment as Attorney General; RFK’s involvement in staffing the White House for JFK and other presidential appointments; Lord Harlech (William David Ormsby-Gore); and State Department staff, among other issues.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A12-14-61
Luncheon in honor of President of the Republic of the Congo Fulbert Youlou (Brazzaville). (L-R) Unidentified man, Speaker of the House of Representatives Sam Rayburn, President Youlou, an unidentified man, President John F. Kennedy, and an unidentified man. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is in the foreground on the right side of the photograph with his back to the camera. The painting over the fireplace is an 1869 portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George P.A. Healy and was donated to the White House in 1939. The inscription in the green marble fireplace was commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and taken from a letter written by John Adams to his wife, Abigail, and reads, “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.” State Dining Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A12-13-61
Luncheon in honor of President of the Republic of the Congo Fulbert Youlou (Brazzaville). Seated at the table (L-R): Unidentified man, Speaker of the House of Representatives Sam Rayburn, President Youlou, President John F. Kennedy, and others unidentified. The painting over the fireplace is an 1869 portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George P.A. Healy and was donated to the White House in 1939. The inscription in the green marble fireplace was commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and taken from a letter written by John Adams to his wife, Abigail, and reads, “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.” State Dining Room, White House, Washington, D.C.