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Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-18A-4
Sound recording of 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.Transcript included. This sound recording was originally recorded on Dictation Belt 18A, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding and following this one. To hear all of the recordings on the Dictation Belt, see Digital Identifier: JFKPOF-TPH-18A, Title: Telephone recordings: Dictation Belt 18A.
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-315-005
This folder contains an agenda, background memoranda, a summary, and a Record of Actions for a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) Standing Group regarding United States policy towards Cuba. Also included in this folder are memoranda of conversations on Laos between Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs W. Averell Harriman, Soviet Union Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko, and Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
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.