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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-NH-01
In this interview Hobbs discusses setting up and staffing the Peace Corps; issues with the Peace Corps; Peace Corps relations and association with the CIA; the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation; biological versus behavioral research; Panel organization and criticisms; Russian research and the possibilities for the United States; Panel recommendations; and the effect of the Panel on the field of study, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-BBH-01
In this interview Hickenlooper discusses various meetings with President John F. Kennedy [JFK] on foreign relations; Soviet and American nuclear testing; the nuclear test ban treaty; the Bay of Pigs invasion; Laos and Vietnam; the Punta del Este Conference in 1962; the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962; Hickenlooper's 1962 reelection campaign; traveling with JFK to Costa Rica; the 1961 Berlin crisis; JFK's congressional relations; and social occasions at the Kennedy White House, among other issues.
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-LBH-01
In this interview Hays discusses early interactions with John F. Kennedy [JFK]; obstacles to becoming an Assistant Secretary of State and his work in that position; Hays’ trip abroad to visit the Pope; moving over to the White House and his work as a Special Assistant to the President; Federal-State intergovernmental relations; visiting Africa and various Peace Corps installations; the relationship between JFK’s Administration and different African countries; JFK and humor; making speeches and acting as a spokesman for the Kennedy Administration; and Hays’ last interaction with JFK before the assassination, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LWH-01
In this interview, Lord Harlech discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] early opinions on disarmament; dealings with Nikita S. Khrushchev and the Soviet Union; the Cuban crisis; issues with selling and testing American missiles; how JFK’s relationship with British Prime Minister M. Harold Macmillan developed over time and how they worked together on specific issues; how JFK’s interest in politics and foreign affairs developed; difficulties with France over their nuclear program in 1962; JFK’s skills and character; JFK’s different circles of friends; and JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis’ approaches to life in the public eye, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JCPW-01
In this interview they discuss their article in Look magazine; personal recollections of President John F. Kennedy's [JFK] assassination; working on JFK’s 1960 presidential campaign; JFK’s campaigning style; JFK’s relationship with the press, White House staff, and his family; and JFK’s trips to Nassau, Europe, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ranch, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JAC-04
In this interview Carver discusses dealing with a backlog at the National Park Service from the previous Administration; working with and around both preservation lobbies and commercial interests; the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission’s report (1962); the creation of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation in the Department of the Interior; and the question of self-government in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JBC-01
Carey discusses the International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers' (IUE) close relationship with John F. Kennedy (JFK) during his years in Congress and as president, and JFK’s interest in international labor matters, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-DEB-02
Bell discusses U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) during the Kennedy administration including the process of and difficulties with getting Congressional appropriations for foreign aid; and Vietnam and Laos, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-KMB-03
Birkhead discusses specific agriculture legislation during the Kennedy administration, including among others the 1962 farm bill and 1963 wheat referendum, and Southern members of Congress, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-NEH-02
In this interview Halaby discusses different civil rights issues throughout John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] Administration, including the process of and problems with desegregating airport terminals in accordance with Boynton v. Virginia (1960); the 1961 hijacking of a plane, referred to as the El Paso incident; constructing and dedicating the new John Foster Dulles Airport; federal transportation policy; different White House staff members and procedures; and running the Federal Aviation Administration, including problems with certain political figures, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-EDAG-01
In this interview Gullion discusses his first impressions of and early relationship with Congressman John F. Kennedy [JFK]; JFK’s 1951 visit to Indochina and its affect on his stance on foreign policy; the State Department’s issues with JFK throughout his career; and JFK as a Senator, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HWG-01
Graham discusses meeting John F. Kennedy in 1951 in Germany and impressions of him, 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-09
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] decision to enter politics right after WWII; JFK’s campaign for the House of Representatives and Kennedy family and supporters’ roles in it; JFK as a campaigner, strengths and weaknesses; traveling around the world with JFK in 1951 and meeting foreign leaders; JFK’s interest in foreign affairs while in Congress; JFK’s 1952 Senate campaign; the Massachusetts Democratic Party; Adlai E. Stevenson; Paul A. Dever; the tea parties for JFK’s campaigns; the organization of JFK’s 1952 campaign; and the 1956 Democratic National Convention and the question of the vice-presidential nomination, 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-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
Robert F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
RFKOH-JTC-02
In this interview Conway discusses working with John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] 1960 presidential campaign; the negative reaction to the choice of Lyndon B. Johnson for JFK’s running mate; labor leadership and JFK’s campaign; unions and the religious issue during the 1960 election; discussing presidential appointments with JFK after the election; Conway’s role in JFK’s Administration; the Housing and Home Finance Agency, legislation, and working with Congress; accelerated public works, the Department of Commerce, and problems with the extent of presidential powers; Walter Reuther and his relationship with JFK; confrontations between Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy [RFK]; working with RFK on civil rights marches and their legislative demands; and interactions with RFK from 1964 through 1968, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-KTY-03
In this interview Young discusses the creation of the Dean Rusk-Thanat Khoman Agreement in March 1962; drafting the Internal Security Program for Thailand and urging Thai officials to create their own; Robert F. Kennedy’s visit to Bangkok in 1962 and his support on Thai issues; Thailand’s road building program; the different approach to Asia by select assistant secretaries of State; and working with the country team for Thailand, among other issues.
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.