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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.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-18-B
AR28, KN24
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24647
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy; Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz (mostly hidden); Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby; Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner; Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Walter W. Heller (on edge of frame). Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24646
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy (mostly hidden); Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz (mostly hidden); Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby; Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24645
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy (mostly hidden); Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz (mostly hidden); Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver (face obscured); Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby; Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24644
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy (face obscured); Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby; Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner; Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Walter W. Heller. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-24643
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Cabinet. Seated at table (clockwise from left foreground): Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb (back to camera); Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), Robert C. Weaver; Postmaster General, J. Edward Day; Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), John E. Horne; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (mostly hidden); Under Secretary of Agriculture, Charles S. Murphy; Under Secretary of Labor, W. Willard Wirtz; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Anthony Celebrezze; Secretary of Commerce, Luther H. Hodges; Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management, William H. Orrick, Jr.; President Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Assistant Secretary of the Interior, John A. Carver; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell (back to camera). Seated along windows behind table (L-R): Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Aubrey J. “Red” Wagner; Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), Najeeb Halaby (mostly hidden behind President Kennedy); Special Counsel to the President, Theodore C. Sorensen; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner; Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Walter W. Heller. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.