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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-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-11A
Dictation Belt 11A contains six sound recordings. Item 11A.1 is a telephone conversation held on March 6, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Under Secretary of State George W. Ball. They discuss the cancellation of a visit by a French official. Machine noise precedes the conversation. [White House Operator?] speaks to Under Secretary Ball while he holds for President Kennedy. Item 11A.2 is a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and United States Army General Chester V. Clifton. They discuss the issue of participation of Arkansas National Guard fliers in the Bay of Pigs invasion. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 11A.3 is a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Adrian S. Fisher. They discuss responding to a statement by Senator Thomas J. Dodd of Connecticut. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 11A.4 is a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Under Secretary of State George W. Ball. They discuss international trade issues involving the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. The trade issues involve wool, oil, and a pipe embargo. The dictation belt skips occasionally. Item 11A.5 is a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Deputy Attorney General Nicholas deB. Katzenbach. They discuss civil rights issues in Mississippi and Louisiana and briefly discuss Interhandel. The recording begins in mid-conversation. [White House Operator?] ends the call. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 11A.6 is part of a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963. First an unidentified man notifies President Kennedy of the death of Thomas J. Shanahan. Then the unidentified man gives Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln additional information regarding Shanahan. The recording of this conversation ends abruptly and continues on Dictation Belt 11B.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.