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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RH-01
In this interview Hilsman discusses his initial interactions with John F. Kennedy [JFK]; Hilsman’s appointment to the Department of State during the Kennedy Administration; Foreign Service officers and “hot-seat” jobs; issues with Dean Rusk as Secretary of State; reorganizing the Bureau of Intelligence and Research; the flow of information between the State Department and the White House; staffing the State Department; the use of satellite intelligence; John A. McCone; working with and around Robert F. Kennedy [RFK]; JFK, RFK, and Vietnam; Edward G. Lansdale; Maxwell D. Taylor; the connection between Vietnam and Laos; U.S. action in Laos; the Buddhist crisis in Vietnam; the impact of WWII on Hilsman and JFK’s generation; and the 1963 coup in Vietnam, 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-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.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-10-D
AR28, KN24
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-29-A
ST15
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C24451
Arrival ceremonies for President of Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré. Standing on reviewing platform (L-R): President Touré; President John F. Kennedy; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea, Louis Lansana Béavogui; Ambassador of Guinea, Dr. Seydou Conte; U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball; United States Ambassador to Guinea, William Attwood; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell D. Taylor; U.S. State Department interpreter, Edmund S. Glenn; U.S. Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke. Also pictured: Air Force Aide to President Kennedy, Brigadier General Godfrey T. McHugh; Naval Aide to President Kennedy, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Ambassador of Vietnam, Tran Van Chuong; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams; Director of West Coast and Malian Affairs in the U.S. Department of State, William C. Trimble; U.S. State Department interpreter, José de Seabra; U.S. Deputy Chief of Protocol, William J. Tonesk; U.S. State Department Protocol officer, Jay Rutherfurd; U.S. Assistant Chief of Protocol for Visits and Public Events, Samuel L. King. Members of the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets stand in background. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C24450
President of Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré, delivers remarks at arrival ceremonies in his honor. Standing on reviewing platform (L-R): Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea, Louis Lansana Béavogui; Ambassador of Guinea, Dr. Seydou Conte; U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball; President Touré (at microphones); President John F. Kennedy; United States Ambassador to Guinea, William Attwood (in back); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell D. Taylor; U.S. Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke; U.S. State Department interpreter, Edmund S. Glenn. Also pictured: Air Force Aide to President Kennedy, Brigadier General Godfrey T. McHugh; Naval Aide to President Kennedy, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Ambassador of Vietnam, Tran Van Chuong; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams; Director of West Coast and Malian Affairs in the U.S. Department of State, William C. Trimble; U.S. Deputy Chief of Protocol, William J. Tonesk; U.S. State Department Protocol officer, Jay Rutherfurd; U.S. State Department interpreter, José de Seabra; U.S. Assistant Chief of Protocol for Visits and Public Events, Samuel L. King; White House Secret Service agent, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn. Members of the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets stand in background; members of the press gather in foreground. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C24449
President John F. Kennedy delivers remarks at arrival ceremonies in honor of President of Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré. Standing on reviewing platform (L-R): Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea, Louis Lansana Béavogui; President Touré; Ambassador of Guinea, Dr. Seydou Conte; U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball (in back); President Kennedy (at microphones); United States Ambassador to Guinea, William Attwood (in back); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell D. Taylor; U.S. Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke; U.S. State Department interpreter, Edmund S. Glenn. Also pictured: Air Force Aide to President Kennedy, Brigadier General Godfrey T. McHugh; Naval Aide to President Kennedy, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams; Director of West Coast and Malian Affairs in the U.S. Department of State, William C. Trimble; U.S. Deputy Chief of Protocol, William J. Tonesk; U.S. State Department Protocol officer, Jay Rutherfurd; U.S. State Department interpreter, José de Seabra; U.S. Assistant Chief of Protocol for Visits and Public Events, Samuel L. King; White House Secret Service agent, Gerald A. “Jerry” Behn. Members of the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets stand in background; members of the press gather in foreground. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C24447
Arrival ceremonies for President of Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré. Left to right (in foreground): Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell D. Taylor (greeting President Touré); U.S. State Department interpreter, Edmund S. Glenn; U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball; Air Force Aide to President Kennedy, Brigadier General Godfrey T. McHugh (in back, partially hidden); Naval Aide to President Kennedy, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; President Touré; President John F. Kennedy (back to camera); U.S. Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke (partially hidden on edge of frame). Military Air Transport Service (MATS) terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington D.C.
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-A26-18-62
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-KN-C24462
President of Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré, delivers remarks at arrival ceremonies in his honor. Standing on reviewing platform in foreground (L-R): Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea, Louis Lansana Béavogui; Ambassador of Guinea, Dr. Seydou Conte; U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball; President Touré (at microphones); President John F. Kennedy; United States Ambassador to Guinea, William Attwood (in back); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell D. Taylor. Also pictured (at right in background): U.S. Deputy Chief of Protocol, William J. Tonesk; U.S. State Department Protocol officer, Jay Rutherfurd. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C24457
Arrival ceremonies for President of Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré. Standing on reviewing platform in foreground (L-R): President Touré; President John F. Kennedy; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea, Louis Lansana Béavogui (in back, partially hidden); Ambassador of Guinea, Dr. Seydou Conte; United States Ambassador to Guinea, William Attwood (in back); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell D. Taylor (mostly hidden); U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball. Also pictured: Naval Aide to President Kennedy, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Ambassador of Vietnam, Tran Van Chuong; U.S. State Department interpreter, José de Seabra; U.S. Deputy Chief of Protocol, William J. Tonesk; U.S. State Department Protocol officer, Jay Rutherfurd. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7532-C
Arrival ceremonies for President of Guinea, Ahmed Sékou Touré. Standing on reviewing platform (L-R): President Touré; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea, Louis Lansana Béavogui (in back, partially hidden); President John F. Kennedy; Ambassador of Guinea, Dr. Seydou Conte (in back, mostly hidden); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell D. Taylor; U.S. Under Secretary of State, George Ball. Standing left of platform: Naval Aide to President Kennedy, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Ambassador of Vietnam, Tran Van Chuong. Military Air Transport Service (MATS) terminal, Washington National Airport, Washington D.C.