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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-09
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] decision to enter politics right after WWII; JFK’s campaign for the House of Representatives and Kennedy family and supporters’ roles in it; JFK as a campaigner, strengths and weaknesses; traveling around the world with JFK in 1951 and meeting foreign leaders; JFK’s interest in foreign affairs while in Congress; JFK’s 1952 Senate campaign; the Massachusetts Democratic Party; Adlai E. Stevenson; Paul A. Dever; the tea parties for JFK’s campaigns; the organization of JFK’s 1952 campaign; and the 1956 Democratic National Convention and the question of the vice-presidential nomination, 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.