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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LCH-01
In this interview Heinz discusses how he came to work in the Office of International Security Affairs [ISA] in the Department of Defense [DOD]; the changeover in the DOD between the Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy Administrations; Heinz’s view of the Bay of Pigs; the regular operations and organization within ISA, including the different regional desks’ responsibilities; relationships between the ISA and other agencies; ISA as “the little State Department”; differences of opinion between DOD and the State Department, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the debate over whether to put troops in Laos; Robert S. McNamara and Roswell L. Gilpatric; the status of Okinawa; the question of U.S. defense perimeters; and W. Averell Harriman’s trip to Geneva and the neutralization solution for Laos, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-05
Brown discusses the U.S. and Soviet Union’s nuclear testing, the debate within the Kennedy Administration over whether to have atmospheric or underground testing, and negotiations leading to the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-04
Brown discusses the TFX (tactical fighter experimental) airplane, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and testifying before Congress, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-03
Brown discusses antiballistic missile programs, nuclear-armed aircraft, defense department appropriations, and radar systems, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-02
Brown discusses his job description; the factors that went into his, Robert S. McNamara’s, and John F. Kennedy’s decision making about whether or not a particular weapons system should be developed, and the Nike Zeus and Nike X missile systems, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-01
Brown discusses atmospheric nuclear testing by the U.S. and Soviet Union; overstatement of the nuclear threat from the Soviet Union during the Eisenhower administration, various missile systems; and the capabilities of the U.S.’ nuclear weapons, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-06
In this interview Komer discusses U.S. aid to India and Pakistan and some problems involved with it, including the question of long-term U.S. aid and a shift in focus from Pakistan to India; problems with the Agency for International Development; oil and U.S. policy; U.S. involvement in the Congo; Komer’s meetings with President John F. Kennedy [JFK] and how Komer briefed him; the relations among JFK, Dean Rusk, John Kenneth Galbraith, Adlai E. Stevenson, and McGeorge Bundy; JFK’s interest in India and Pakistan and his attempt at a mediation between the two on Kashmir; and JFK and Algeria and Morocco, among other issues.
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-RFK-08
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] Cabinet and appointing the various secretaries; problems in and JFK’s wariness of the Department of State; the ideal State Department organization; problems with Dean Rusk; Maxwell D. Taylor’s Cuba investigation; the Bay of Pigs and its effect on U.S. action in Laos; John McCone’s prediction of missiles in Cuba; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and foreign policy; JFK’s vice-presidential choice at the 1960 Democratic National Convention; Johnson’s hesitant acceptance of the vice-presidential slot; RFK’s appointment as Attorney General; RFK’s involvement in staffing the White House for JFK and other presidential appointments; Lord Harlech (William David Ormsby-Gore); and State Department staff, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-03
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses the 1962 steel crisis; some major issues and accomplishments of John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] presidency; choosing the U.S. Ambassador to Russia; foreign aid and treaties; the military coup in Peru; the space race during the Kennedy Administration; the 1962 congressional and gubernatorial campaigns; JFK’s dinner for the Nobel Prize winners; the Polaris submarines; problems with the New York Herald Tribune; New York politics; various pieces of federal legislation, 1961–1963; the Dominican Republic; Department of Justice investigations under RFK; the difficulties of being Attorney General; congressional issues in early 1963; the Vietnam War escalation in 1963; American support of the coup in Vietnam; Henry Cabot Lodge as the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam; the prisoners from the Bay of Pigs invasion; American actions in Cuba; unemployment and civil rights; RFK’s meeting with James Baldwin; JFK’s trips to the South and speeches on civil rights; the nuclear test ban treaty; and JFK’s trip to Ireland and Rome, 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.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JKR-02
In this interview Ruina discusses the background of the nuclear test ban treaty, including the research and development to improve nuclear test detection capabilities; congressional hearings on the test ban and the nuclear detection technology; different political interests in the test ban debate; and some issues in getting the test ban signed, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JKR-01
In this interview Ruina discusses the Nike-Zeus antiballistic-missile-missiles; briefing President John F. Kennedy [JFK] on the Nike-Zeus missiles; JFK’s comprehension of the briefing material and the type of questions he asked; Project Defender; the background and organization of the Advanced Research Projects Agency; the leadership and organization of the Department of Defense; interactions with Robert S. McNamara; competition between the military and the Defense Department on research and development and for resources and congressional funds; the period of new, advanced—but not always useful—technology; and Project AGILE and counterinsurgency efforts in Vietnam, among other issues.