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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.
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-340-006
This file contains copies of National Security Action Memoranda number 220 (NSAM 220) titled, “U.S. Government Shipments by Foreign Flag Vessels in the Cuban Trade,” to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman, Secretary of Commerce Luther H. Hodges, Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) David Bell, and Administrator for the General Services Administration (GSA) Bernard Boutin from McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-339-004
This file contains a copy of National Security Action Memoranda number 194 (NSAM 194) titled, “Policy Toward Non-Bloc Ships in Cuban Trade,” to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Secretary of Commerce Luther H. Hodges, Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz, Administrator of the Maritime Commission Donald W. Alexander, Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) Fowler Hamilton, Director of the Bureau of the Budget David Bell, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone, and President of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charles S. Murphy from Carl Kaysen, Deputy Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.