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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-1962-10-11-B
AR28, ST14, KN24
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR6669-C
President John F. Kennedy hands a pen to Senator Maurine Neuberger (Oregon) after signing H.R. 6713 Public Law 87-61 Federal Aid Highway Act, amending certain laws and other provisions regarding the Federal highway program. (L-R) Congressman John McCormack (Massachusetts), Senator Francis Case (South Dakota), Senator Pat McNamara (Michigan), Senator Dennis Chávez (New Mexico), President Kennedy (seated at desk), Congressman John A. Blatnik (Minnesota), Congressman George H. Fallon (Maryland), Senator Neuberger, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, unidentified man (partially hidden), Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges, unidentified man, and Congressman William C. Cramer (Florida). Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR6669-A
President John F. Kennedy prepares to sign the H.R. 6713 Public Law 87-61 Federal Aid Highway Act, amending certain laws and other provisions regarding the Federal highway program. (L-R) Congressman John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin), Senator John Sherman Cooper (Kentucky), Congressman Noah M. Mason (Illinois), Congressman Gordon H. Scherer (Ohio), Congressman Thomas J. O’Brien (Illinois), Congressman Wilbur Mills (Arkansas), Senator Robert Kerr (Oklahoma), Senator Harry F. Byrd (Virginia), Congressman John McCormack (Massachusetts), Senator Francis Case (South Dakota), President Kennedy (seated at desk), Senator Pat McNamara (Michigan), Senator Dennis Chávez (New Mexico), Congressman John A. Blatnik (Minnesota), Congressman George H. Fallon (Maryland), Senator Maurine Neuberger (Oregon), Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges, two unidentified men, and Federal Highway Administrator Rex M. Whitton. Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7535-H
President John F. Kennedy (seated) signs the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Standing (L-R): Senator B. Everett Jordan (North Carolina); Executive Director of the Committee for a National Trade Policy (CNTP), John W. Hight; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; unidentified (in back); Representative John J. Flynt, Jr. (Georgia); Representative Hale Boggs (Louisiana); unidentified (in back); Representative Wilbur D. Mills (Arkansas); Senator Harry Flood Byrd (Virginia); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (in back); Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma); Representative John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin); Senator Mike Mansfield (Montana); Senator Russell B. Long (Louisiana); Senator John O. Pastore (Rhode Island); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Representative Cecil R. King (California); Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (in back); Representative Howard H. Baker (Tennessee); Representative Eugene J. Keogh of New York (in back); Special Assistant to the President for International Trade Policy, Howard C. Petersen. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7535-G
President John F. Kennedy (seated) signs the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Standing (L-R): Senator B. Everett Jordan (North Carolina); Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; unidentified; Representative John J. Flynt, Jr. (Georgia); Representative Hale Boggs (Louisiana); unidentified (in back); Representative Wilbur D. Mills (Arkansas); Senator Harry Flood Byrd (Virginia); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (in back, mostly hidden); Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma); Representative John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin); Senator Mike Mansfield (Montana); Senator Russell B. Long (Louisiana); Senator John O. Pastore (Rhode Island); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Representative Cecil R. King (California); Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (in back); Representative Howard H. Baker (Tennessee); Representative Eugene J. Keogh of New York (in back); Special Assistant to the President for International Trade Policy, Howard C. Petersen; Secretary of Agriculture, Orville L. Freeman. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7535-E
President John F. Kennedy (seated) signs the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Standing (L-R): Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; unidentified; Representative John J. Flynt, Jr. (Georgia); Representative Hale Boggs of Louisiana (partially hidden); Representative Wilbur D. Mills (Arkansas); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (in back, mostly hidden); Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma); Representative John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin); Senator Mike Mansfield (Montana); Senator Russell B. Long (Louisiana); Senator John O. Pastore (Rhode Island); Secretary of State, Dean Rusk (in back); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Representative Cecil R. King (California); Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (in back, mostly hidden); Representative Howard H. Baker (Tennessee); Representative Eugene J. Keogh of New York (in back, mostly hidden); Special Assistant to the President for International Trade Policy, Howard C. Petersen; Secretary of Agriculture, Orville L. Freeman; Under Secretary of State, George Ball. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7535-A
President John F. Kennedy (seated) delivers remarks at the signing of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Standing (L-R): Chairman of the Committee for a National Trade Policy (CNTP), Carl J. Gilbert; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; two unidentified (both in back); Representative John J. Flynt, Jr. (Georgia); Representative Hale Boggs of Louisiana (partially hidden); Representative Wilbur D. Mills (Arkansas); Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma); Representative John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin); Senator Mike Mansfield (Montana); Senator Russell B. Long (Louisiana); Senator John O. Pastore (Rhode Island); Secretary of State, Dean Rusk (in back); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Representative Cecil R. King (California); Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (in back, mostly hidden); Representative Howard H. Baker (Tennessee); Representative Eugene J. Keogh of New York (in back, mostly hidden); Special Assistant to the President for International Trade Policy, Howard C. Petersen. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C.