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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-05
In this interview Komer discusses working with McGeorge Bundy; the “inner circle” of the Bundy State Department; Komer’s major contacts; the intelligence system; the power and responsibilities of the State Department; how Bundy screened what President John F. Kennedy [JFK] would see; relations with other key officials; Robert F. Kennedy and foreign policy issues; the Bundy State Department and White House staff; the “little State Department” in the White House; the bureaucratic role of the State Department; U.S. foreign policy in Asia; relations with key U.S. Ambassadors; handling Arab-Israeli issues; domestic pressures of American-Jewish community on JFK; Arabists in the Kennedy Administration; working with Myer Feldman on Israeli issues; the United States, Saudi Arabia, and oil; filling the power vacuum left by the British; dealing with Congress on foreign aid matters; counterinsurgency; and looking back at programs during the Kennedy Administration, 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.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-10-01-A
ST30, KN40
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-07-23-A
AR24, ST12, KN20
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-05-09-C
AR20, KN16
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-04-28-B
AR19
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-10-D
AR28, KN24
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-04-30-C
AR35, ST23
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-01-17-A
AR31, ST19, KN28
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-11-30-B
AR30, ST16, KN26
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-12-11-B
ST17, KN27
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-12-11-A
AR30, ST17, KN27
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-03-20-E
AR17, KN13
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-03-20-C
AR17, KN13
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-03-13-D
AR17, KN13
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C25743-C
Arrival ceremonies for President of Chile, Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez. Standing on reviewing platform in foreground (L-R): President Alessandri Rodríguez; President John F. Kennedy; U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball. South Lawn, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C25569
Arrival ceremonies for President of Chile, Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez. Standing on reviewing platform in foreground (L-R): President Alessandri Rodríguez; President John F. Kennedy; U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball. South Lawn, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C25568
President John F. Kennedy walks with President of Chile, Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez, following President Alessandri Rodríguez's arrival at the White House. Left to right: U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball; President Alessandri Rodríguez; U.S. State Department interpreter, Fernando van Reigersberg (in back, partially hidden); President Kennedy; U.S. Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke. South Lawn, White House, Washington, D.C. [Scratches on image are original to the negative.]
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C20440
President John F. Kennedy meets with President of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo, and others in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Washington, D.C. L-R: Cameroonian Ambassador to the United States, Jacques Kuoh Moukouri; President Ahidjo; Minister of the National Economy of Cameroon, Victor Kanga; unidentified; Minister without Portfolio of Cameroon, Jean Akassou (in back); US Ambassador to Cameroon, Leland Barrows; Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams; Under Secretary of State, George Ball; President Kennedy.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C20439
President John F. Kennedy meets with President of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo, and others in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Washington, D.C. L-R: President Ahidjo; Minister of the National Economy of Cameroon, Victor Kanga; unidentified; US Ambassador to Cameroon, Leland Barrows; Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams; Under Secretary of State, George Ball; President Kennedy; Deputy Director of the Office of West African and Malagasy Affairs, Donald Dumont.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C20438
President John F. Kennedy meets with President of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo, and others in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Washington, D.C. L-R: President Ahidjo; Minister of the National Economy of Cameroon, Victor Kanga; unidentified; US Ambassador to Cameroon, Leland Barrows; Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams; Under Secretary of State, George Ball; President Kennedy; US State Department interpreter, Edmund S. Glenn (on far right edge of image).
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C20542
President John F. Kennedy (left) shakes hands with President of Togo, Sylvanus Olympio, upon President Olympio’s arrival in Washington, D.C. Under Secretary of State, George Ball, stands at left. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) Terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C20540
Arrival ceremonies for President of Togo, Sylvanus Olympio. Standing on reviewing platform (L-R): President Olympio; President John F. Kennedy; Under Secretary of State, George Ball; US Ambassador to Togo, Leon B. Poullada; Togolese Ambassador to the United States, Dr. André Akakpo. Below platform at left (L-R): Ambassador of Nicaragua and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Dr. Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa; Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams. US Marine Band stands in background. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) Terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C20539
Arrival ceremonies for President of Togo, Sylvanus Olympio. Standing on reviewing platform (L-R): President John F. Kennedy; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Togo, Paulin Freitas; President Olympio; Togolese Ambassador to the United States, Dr. André Akakpo; Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General George H. Decker (behind Ambassador Akakpo); Under Secretary of State, George Ball; US Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke. Also pictured: Air Force Aide to President Kennedy, Brigadier General Godfrey T. McHugh (below platform at left); Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs of Togo, Dr. Hospice Coco (in group behind platform); Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams (in group behind platform); Naval Aide to President Kennedy, Captain Tazewell Shepard (behind platform at right). US Marine Band stands in background. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) Terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C.