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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-1962-10-29-A
ST15
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-11-B
AR28, ST14, KN24
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-25-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. Clockwise from top right side of table: Under Secretary of State George Ball, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul Nitze, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Donald Wilson, Special Counsel to the President Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (mostly hidden), Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone (mostly hidden behind Director Foster). Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-21-62
Meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM). Seated at table (clockwise from bottom left): Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-20-62
Meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM). Seated at table (clockwise from bottom left): Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-18-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. Seated at table (clockwise from bottom left): Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul Nitze, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Donald Wilson (partially hidden), Special Counsel to the President Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone (mostly hidden), Under Secretary of State George Ball (partially hidden), Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy stands at far left; President Kennedy (looking down, with hands on table) and Secretary of State Dean Rusk stand at far right; Executive Secretary of the National Security Council Bromley Smith (back left) sits against the wall, near the bookcase. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-16-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. Seated at table (clockwise from bottom left): Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul Nitze, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Donald Wilson (partially hidden), Special Counsel to the President Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone, Under Secretary of State George Ball (mostly hidden), Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Kennedy (mostly hidden behind Secretary Rusk), and White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger (on far edge of frame) stand at right; Executive Secretary of the National Security Council Bromley Smith (back left) sits against the wall, near the bookcase. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-1-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. Clockwise from top right side of table: Under Secretary of State George Ball, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul Nitze, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Donald Wilson, Special Counsel to the President Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy (mostly hidden), Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (mostly hidden), Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone (mostly hidden behind Director Foster). Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7535-H
President John F. Kennedy (seated) signs the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Standing (L-R): Senator B. Everett Jordan (North Carolina); Executive Director of the Committee for a National Trade Policy (CNTP), John W. Hight; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; unidentified (in back); Representative John J. Flynt, Jr. (Georgia); Representative Hale Boggs (Louisiana); unidentified (in back); Representative Wilbur D. Mills (Arkansas); Senator Harry Flood Byrd (Virginia); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (in back); Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma); Representative John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin); Senator Mike Mansfield (Montana); Senator Russell B. Long (Louisiana); Senator John O. Pastore (Rhode Island); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Representative Cecil R. King (California); Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (in back); Representative Howard H. Baker (Tennessee); Representative Eugene J. Keogh of New York (in back); Special Assistant to the President for International Trade Policy, Howard C. Petersen. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7535-G
President John F. Kennedy (seated) signs the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Standing (L-R): Senator B. Everett Jordan (North Carolina); Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; unidentified; Representative John J. Flynt, Jr. (Georgia); Representative Hale Boggs (Louisiana); unidentified (in back); Representative Wilbur D. Mills (Arkansas); Senator Harry Flood Byrd (Virginia); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (in back, mostly hidden); Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma); Representative John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin); Senator Mike Mansfield (Montana); Senator Russell B. Long (Louisiana); Senator John O. Pastore (Rhode Island); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Representative Cecil R. King (California); Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (in back); Representative Howard H. Baker (Tennessee); Representative Eugene J. Keogh of New York (in back); Special Assistant to the President for International Trade Policy, Howard C. Petersen; Secretary of Agriculture, Orville L. Freeman. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7535-E
President John F. Kennedy (seated) signs the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Standing (L-R): Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; unidentified; Representative John J. Flynt, Jr. (Georgia); Representative Hale Boggs of Louisiana (partially hidden); Representative Wilbur D. Mills (Arkansas); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (in back, mostly hidden); Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma); Representative John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin); Senator Mike Mansfield (Montana); Senator Russell B. Long (Louisiana); Senator John O. Pastore (Rhode Island); Secretary of State, Dean Rusk (in back); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Representative Cecil R. King (California); Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (in back, mostly hidden); Representative Howard H. Baker (Tennessee); Representative Eugene J. Keogh of New York (in back, mostly hidden); Special Assistant to the President for International Trade Policy, Howard C. Petersen; Secretary of Agriculture, Orville L. Freeman; Under Secretary of State, George Ball. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7535-C
President John F. Kennedy (seated) distributes pens after signing the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Standing (L-R): unidentified; Representative John J. Flynt, Jr. (Georgia); Representative Hale Boggs (Louisiana); Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (in back, mostly hidden); Representative Wilbur D. Mills (Arkansas); Senator Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia (receiving a pen from President Kennedy); Senator Robert S. Kerr (Oklahoma); Representative John W. Byrnes (Wisconsin); Senator Mike Mansfield (Montana); Senator Russell B. Long (Louisiana); Senator John O. Pastore (Rhode Island); Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (Minnesota); Representative Cecil R. King (California); Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (in back); Representative Howard H. Baker (Tennessee); Special Assistant to the President for International Trade Policy, Howard C. Petersen. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C.