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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-KGH-02
In this interview Heath discusses how she came to join the Office of Education; the leadership within the Office of Education and different ideas on how it should be run; other agencies within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare [HEW]; changes in the status and administration of HEW; various pieces of education legislation; the 1954 Supreme Court decision on separate but equal and segregation in schools; international education affairs; the reasons for pushing for general school aid over categorical aid; the 1955 White House conference on education; coalescing all the organizations within HEW into one voice for the Department; working with other Departments; the International Labor Organization and the United Nations; getting political support from the different presidential Administrations; the nationalization of the Suez Canal; the shift to considering social matters in a much broader context; the impact of the Sputnik launch on the Office of Education; and the National Defense Education Act, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-04
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses American aid to Argentina; American, British, and French involvement in Africa; the 1962 executive order about segregation in federally-funded housing; appointing African-American judges; changes John F. Kennedy [JFK] was contemplating in the Alliance for Progress; the Dominican crisis; the wheat sale to the Soviet Union; the Bobby Baker case; preparing for JFK’s 1964 campaign; RFK’s return to work after JFK’s assassination and disagreements among the Cabinet members and under President Lyndon B. Johnson; changes in White House staff and the Democratic Party; RFK’s political plans for after 1964; and JFK’s opinions of his staff and appointees, 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.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Harris Wofford
JFKWHSFHW-002-012
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Harris Wofford
JFKWHSFHW-005-018
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Harris Wofford
JFKWHSFHW-013-018
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Harris Wofford
JFKWHSFHW-009-023
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Harris Wofford
JFKWHSFHW-009-022
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Central Subject Files
JFKWHCSF-0366-004
Materials in this folder include memoranda and correspondence between President John F. Kennedy, Special Assistant to the President Frederick G. Dutton, various members of the White House staff, and individual citizens concerning the voluntary desegregation of public facilities and the treatment of visiting African diplomats in Maryland. The folder also contains correspondence concerning racially segregated schools in Boston, Massachusetts.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Central Subject Files
JFKWHCSF-0365-007
Materials in this folder include telegrams, memoranda, and correspondence between various members of the White House staff and individual citizens concerning incidents of religious discrimination, discriminatory housing practices, United States military personnel participating in civil rights demonstrations, the treatment of African diplomats visiting Washington, D.C., and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a large political rally during which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech advocating harmonious racial relations. The folder also contains a report from Chief of Protocol Angier Biddle Duke on efforts to improve housing procedures for visiting African diplomats and a transcript of a meeting between President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and business executives concerning the voluntary desegregation of commercial establishments.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Central Subject Files
JFKWHCSF-0359-012
Materials include correspondence regarding a statement made by columnist Walter Winchell on the appointment of Italian-Americans in the Administration, minorities in the United States Navy and Coast Guard Academy, and a memorandum regarding civil rights actions in the Department of Commerce. Of note is a progress report on an earlier report titled “Discrimination and Diplomats” by the Public Affairs unit of the Office of the Chief of Protocol. Also included in this folder are two articles written by the President during his time as a Senator: one titled “Is Your Boy Barred?” for Pageant magazine, July 1954, and the other titled “Take the Academics Out of Politics” for the Saturday Evening Post, June 2, 1956.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Central Subject Files
JFKWHCSF-0373-007
Materials in this folder include telegrams, memoranda, newspaper articles, and correspondence between President John F. Kennedy, Special Assistant to the President Frederick G. Dutton, Assistant Special Counsel to the President Lee C. White, various members of the White House staff, and individual citizens concerning incidents of racial discrimination against visiting African diplomats and racial segregation of public facilities and accommodations, with specific emphasis on restaurants in Maryland.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Central Subject Files
JFKWHCSF-0373-006
Materials in this folder include memoranda, newspaper articles, and correspondence between President John F. Kennedy, Special Assistant to the President Frederick G. Dutton, various members of the White House staff, and individual citizens concerning pending civil rights legislation, incidents of racial discrimination against visiting African diplomats, and racial segregation of public facilities and accommodations.
Textual folder
Berl I. Bernhard Personal Papers
BIBPP-002-007