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Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-18A
Dictation Belt 18A contains eight sound recordings. Item 18A.1 is a sound recording of a brief fragment of a telephone conversation held on April 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Walter W. Heller, Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. They talk about budgetary matters. The recording starts in mid-conversation. Item 18A.2 is a brief telephone exchange on April 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Ralph A. Dungan, Special Assistant to the President. They talk about a letter from Lucius Clay. Item 18A.3 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and an unidentified man. The topic of discussion is unclear. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 18A.3A is a brief telephone exchange between Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln and a White House Operator. The operator notifies Lincoln of an incoming call from Robert B. Troutman. The recording ends abruptly. The telephone conversation with Troutman is not recorded. Item 18A.4 is a telephone conversation held on April 10, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and W. Averell Harriman. They discuss fighting in Laos involving the Pathet Lao and the forces of Kong Le and others. They also discuss whether the United States should discuss the matter with Soviet officials. Item 18A.5 is a brief fragment of a telephone conversation held on April 10, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy. They talk about a Laos statement and a list of raids. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 18A.6 is a telephone conversation held on May 6, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. They discuss Secretary Rusk’s trip to Europe, matters involving Yugoslavia, and arrangements for a meeting. Item 18A.7 is part of a telephone conversation held on May 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Representative Edith S. Green of Oregon. They discuss an education bill and a newspaper article that characterized their political relationship. The recording ends abruptly and continues on Dictation Belt 18B.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.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-336-013
This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 157 (NSAM 157) titled, "Presidential Meeting on Laos, May 24, 1962," to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Lyman L. Lemnitzer from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-342-003
This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 259 (NSAM 259) titled, “Aid Program for Laos – FY 64,” to Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) David Bell from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-341-017
This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 256 (NSAM 256) titled, “Laos Planning,” to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell Taylor from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-341-009
This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 249 (NSAM 249) titled, “Laos Planning,” to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell Taylor from Carl Kaysen, Deputy Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Also included is a memorandum to President John F. Kennedy from the Department of State regarding the situation in Laos and the threat of communist control by North Vietnam.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-MTG-096-002
Sound recording of a meeting held on July 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy, Under Secretary of State George Ball, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs W. Averell Harriman, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy, Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs Roger Hilsman, and member of the National Security Council Michael Forrestal. The main focus of this White House off-the-record meeting is the situation in Vietnam. The meeting takes place not long after a Buddhist monk burned himself to death to protest the relationship between the government of Vietnam and the Buddhists and amidst recent Buddhist demonstrations. The possibility of a coup in Vietnam and differing staff assessments of that possibility are also presented. Other topics are discussed near the end of the meeting, including Laos, Indonesia, Brazil, and Averell Harriman’s upcoming mission to Moscow concerning the treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), and specific aspects of its negotiations. One segment of the recording totaling 35 seconds has been removed in accordance with the donor's deed of gift. Four segments of the recording totaling 41 seconds have been removed in accordance with Section 3.4 (b) (1), (3) of Executive Order 12958. This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 96, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding and following this one. See Related Records to access Tape 96 in its entirety.