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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LCH-01
In this interview Heinz discusses how he came to work in the Office of International Security Affairs [ISA] in the Department of Defense [DOD]; the changeover in the DOD between the Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy Administrations; Heinz’s view of the Bay of Pigs; the regular operations and organization within ISA, including the different regional desks’ responsibilities; relationships between the ISA and other agencies; ISA as “the little State Department”; differences of opinion between DOD and the State Department, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the debate over whether to put troops in Laos; Robert S. McNamara and Roswell L. Gilpatric; the status of Okinawa; the question of U.S. defense perimeters; and W. Averell Harriman’s trip to Geneva and the neutralization solution for Laos, among other issues.
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-03
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses the 1962 steel crisis; some major issues and accomplishments of John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] presidency; choosing the U.S. Ambassador to Russia; foreign aid and treaties; the military coup in Peru; the space race during the Kennedy Administration; the 1962 congressional and gubernatorial campaigns; JFK’s dinner for the Nobel Prize winners; the Polaris submarines; problems with the New York Herald Tribune; New York politics; various pieces of federal legislation, 1961–1963; the Dominican Republic; Department of Justice investigations under RFK; the difficulties of being Attorney General; congressional issues in early 1963; the Vietnam War escalation in 1963; American support of the coup in Vietnam; Henry Cabot Lodge as the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam; the prisoners from the Bay of Pigs invasion; American actions in Cuba; unemployment and civil rights; RFK’s meeting with James Baldwin; JFK’s trips to the South and speeches on civil rights; the nuclear test ban treaty; and JFK’s trip to Ireland and Rome, 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
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-M9-7-61
President John F. Kennedy (standing at the lectern) delivers remarks upon presenting the National Security Medal to Allen W. Dulles, retiring director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Seated behind the President, facing away from the camera, are (L-R) General C.P. Cabell, Deputy Director of the CIA, and Mr. Dulles. Seated in the audience are Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Lyman Lemnitzer. CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-M9-5-61
Audience members at the presentation of the National Security Medal to Allen W. Dulles, retiring director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Seated in the first row (L-R): three unidentified women; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara; Ethel Kennedy, wife of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; and the Attorney General. Seated in the second row (L-R): Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Lyman Lemnitzer and Commandant of the United States Marine Corps General David M. Shoup (wearing glasses). J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seated in the third row, to the right of General Lemnitzer. CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-M9-4-61
President John F. Kennedy arrives at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to present the National Security Medal to Allen W. Dulles and is greeted by Mr. Dulles. Walking behind the President are Naval Aide to the President Captain Tazewell Shepard and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. United States Army helicopters are visible in the background.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-M9-1-61
President John F. Kennedy arrives at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to present the National Security Medal to Allen W. Dulles, retiring director of the CIA. Walking behind President Kennedy are Mr. Dulles, Naval Aide to the President Captain Tazewell Shepard, United States Army General Maxwell D. Taylor, and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. White House Secret Service Agent Bill Duncan walks to the right of President Kennedy. United States Army helicopters are visible in the background.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C19564
President John F. Kennedy arrives at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to present the National Security Medal to Allen W. Dulles, retiring director of the CIA. President Kennedy walks with Mr. Dulles (on the right). Following behind are (L-R): Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, United States Army General Maxwell D. Taylor, and Naval Aide to the President Captain Tazewell Shepard. United States Army helicopters are visible in the background.