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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.
Moving image
White House Films
JFKWHF-WHS01
Motion picture covering President John F. Kennedy's European trip in the summer of 1963. President Kennedy arrives in West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) and travels to various sites. Included are appearances with Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of the Federal Republic of Germany and Mayor of West Berlin Willy Brandt. President Kennedy then arrives in Ireland and is greeted by Irish President Eamon de Valera. Among President Kennedy's travels are a visit to the Kennedy Homestead with Jean Kennedy Smith and Eunice Kennedy Shriver. President Kennedy then arrives in England and is greeted by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan before traveling to various sites. President Kennedy then arrives in Italy and is greeted by Italian President Antonio Segni before visiting various sites. President Kennedy visits the Vatican and meets Pope Paul VI.Source: White House # D-3618.
Photographed by: Cecil W. Stoughton.
Sound by: Alfred J. Storey.