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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-04
In this interview Komer discusses President John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] interest in Indonesia and Iran; U.S.-Indonesian relations; the Indian Ocean and Iran task forces; JFK’s contact with the Iranian Shah; Pakistani-Afghani disputes; U.S. aid to Afghanistan; Komer’s attempt to revamp the military aid program; McGeorge Bundy and Walt W. Rostow as President JFK’s advisers; and JFK’s direct contact with a select few National Security staff, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-03
In this interview Komer discusses negotiating disengagement with Gamal Abdel Nasser and Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia; John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] involvement in the Yemen crisis and the negotiations with Nasser and Faisal; U.S. New Guinea policy and the Dutch-Indonesian conflict; JFK and counterinsurgency; Komer and police programs as part of U.S. counterinsurgency efforts; JFK’s policy towards and involvement with India and Pakistan; U.S. military assistance to India, 1962; and U.S. missions to Pakistan and India, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-02
In this interview Komer discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] personal diplomacy with the United Arab Republic [UAR] through letters; normalizing U.S.-Egypt relations; the Yemen conflict and U.S. interests; negotiating Yemen with M. Harold Macmillan and the attempt to have the United Kingdom recognize the Yemen Republic; dealing with Gamal Abdel Nasser; and difficulties with Saudi Arabia and the UAR, 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.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-18B
Dictation Belt 18B contains three sound recordings. The recording of the conversation in item 18B.1 begins on Dictation Belt 18A.7. This is a sound recording of part of a telephone conversation held on May 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Representative Edith S. Green of Oregon. They complete their discussion about legislative strategy on an education bill and dealing with the National Education Association of the United States. Item 18B.2 is a telephone conversation held on May 8, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. They discuss a strategy for the State Department to deal with an unidentified issue at the United Nations (U.N.). The recording begins in mid-conversation. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 18B.3 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. They discuss administering the State Department and making staff changes at the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). They also discuss conferring with Carl Kaysen on a plan to assist Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique’s effort to gain independence. The beginning of the recording is garbled. Machine noise follows the conversation.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. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-088-005
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning the Department of State. Materials concern persons recommended for recess appointments in the Foreign Service, a statement by the President concerning the Federal budget for 1962-1963, ambassadorial appointments, a speech by Under Secretary of State Chester Bowles, and a comment on the report of the United Nations General Assembly's investigation into the death of Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo Patrice Lumumba. Of note is a telegram from Ambassador Arthur H. Dean to the President regarding the President's upcoming address on disarmament before the United Nations. Also included in this folder are meeting minutes from the Fourth and Fifth Regional Operations Conferences.