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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
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C17942
President John F. Kennedy signs Public Law 87-41, Inter-American Social and Economic Cooperation Program and the Chilean Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Program Act. Others, L-R: Congressman Joseph M. Montoya (New Mexico); Congressman Silvio O. Conte (Massachusetts); Senator J. W. Fulbright (Arkansas); President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Carl Hayden (Arizona); Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn (Texas); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Congressman Armistead I. Selden, Jr. (Alabama); Congressman Otto Passman (Louisiana); Congressman Gerald R. Ford, Jr., of Michigan (in back); Congressman Clarence Cannon (Missouri); Congressman William H. Natcher (Kentucky); Congressman John J. Rooney (New York); former President Harry S. Truman; Senator George D. Aiken (Vermont); unidentified man (on edge of frame). Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C17941
President John F. Kennedy signs Public Law 87-41, Inter-American Social and Economic Cooperation Program and the Chilean Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Program Act. Others, L-R: Chairman of the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), Dr. Fernando Lobo; Congressman John J. Rhodes (Arizona); Congressman Joseph M. Montoya (New Mexico); Congressman Silvio O. Conte (Massachusetts); Senator J. W. Fulbright (Arkansas); President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Carl Hayden (Arizona); Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn (Texas); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Congressman Armistead I. Selden, Jr. (Alabama); Congressman Otto Passman (Louisiana); Congressman Clarence Cannon (Missouri); Congressman William H. Natcher (Kentucky); Congressman John J. Rooney (New York). Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C17940
President John F. Kennedy signs Public Law 87-41, Inter-American Social and Economic Cooperation Program and the Chilean Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Program Act. Others, L-R: Congressman John J. Rhodes (Arizona); Congressman Joseph M. Montoya (New Mexico); Congressman Silvio O. Conte (Massachusetts); Senator J. W. Fulbright (Arkansas); President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Carl Hayden (Arizona); Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn (Texas); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Congressman Armistead I. Selden, Jr. (Alabama); Congressman Otto Passman (Louisiana); Congressman Clarence Cannon (Missouri); Congressman William H. Natcher (Kentucky); Congressman John J. Rooney (New York); former President Harry S. Truman; Senator George D. Aiken (Vermont). Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C17939
President John F. Kennedy signs Public Law 87-41, Inter-American Social and Economic Cooperation Program and the Chilean Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Program Act. Others, L-R: Chairman of the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), Dr. Fernando Lobo; Congressman John J. Rhodes (Arizona); Congressman Joseph M. Montoya (New Mexico); Congressman Silvio O. Conte (Massachusetts); Senator J. W. Fulbright (Arkansas); President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Carl Hayden (Arizona); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Congressman Otto Passman (Louisiana); Congressman Gerald R. Ford, Jr., of Michigan (in back); Congressman Clarence Cannon (Missouri); former President Harry S. Truman. Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C17938
President John F. Kennedy speaks prior to signing Public Law 87-41, Inter-American Social and Economic Cooperation Program and the Chilean Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Program Act. Others, L-R: Chairman of the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), Dr. Fernando Lobo; Congressman John J. Rhodes (Arizona); Congressman Joseph M. Montoya (New Mexico); Congressman Silvio O. Conte (Massachusetts); Senator J. W. Fulbright (Arkansas); President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Carl Hayden (Arizona); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota (in back); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Congressman Armistead I. Selden, Jr. (Alabama); Congressman Otto Passman (Louisiana); former President Harry S. Truman; Congressman William H. Natcher of Kentucky (in back); Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon (in front of Natcher); Congressman John J. Rooney of New York (in front of Morse). Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C17937
President John F. Kennedy speaks prior to signing Public Law 87-41, Inter-American Social and Economic Cooperation Program and the Chilean Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Program Act. Others, L-R: Chairman of the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), Dr. Fernando Lobo; Congressman John J. Rhodes (Arizona); Congressman Joseph M. Montoya (New Mexico); Congressman Silvio O. Conte (Massachusetts); Senator J. W. Fulbright (Arkansas); President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Carl Hayden (Arizona); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota (in back); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Congressman Armistead I. Selden, Jr. (Alabama); Congressman Otto Passman (Louisiana); Congressman Clarence Cannon (Missouri); former President Harry S. Truman; Congressman John J. Rooney (New York). Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.