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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.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-097-008
This folder contains Department of State telegrams regarding the United States, Soviet Union, and Berlin. Topics include air corridor violations; guidelines for assisting East German refugees injured at the Berlin Wall; meetings between the Berlin Commandants for the United States, Great Britain, and France; and the use of armored vehicles (APCs) in the transport of Soviet guards to the war memorial in West Berlin.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-322-021
This folder contains memoranda from Henry Owen, National Security Council Assistant for East-West Negotiations and Berlin, to various persons regarding matters of foreign affairs including Berlin and the Soviet Union; relations with France; and MRBMs (medium range ballistic missiles).
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-321-008
This folder contains memoranda from David Klein, National Security Council Assistant for Europe and Canada, to McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Topics include French military and nuclear policies; procedures for the harassment of U.S. military convoys by Soviet troops on the autobahn; travel requirements for East German residents; and negotiations between the U.S. and Soviet Union on German reunification, Berlin, and nuclear energy.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-322-002
This folder contains memoranda from Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council (NSC) to McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Topics include negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, France-Algeria relations, Syria’s secession from the UAR (United Arab Republic), and United States military policy in Berlin and relations with the Soviet Union.