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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-AUG-01
In this interview Heckscher discusses John F. Kennedy [JFK] and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis as an “inspiration to cultural life”; Heckscher’s involvement in government affairs prior to becoming a Special Consultant to the President; the invitation of 168 artists to JFK’s 1961 inauguration and its impact; how Heckscher came to work for the White House; discussing Heckscher’s position with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.; the reasoning behind the creation of the new position of Special Consultant on the Arts and the favorable public reaction to it; enlarging the definition of “The Arts,” especially regarding architecture; Arthur Goldberg; the establishment of the Freedom Medal; creating the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts through executive order; personal impressions of JFK; setting up Heckscher’s office and staff; how Heckscher was meant to advise JFK and what his position entailed; the Cultural Center [Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]; conversations with JFK; Mrs. Kennedy’s expansive work for the arts; the arts as part of national policy; working with other White House staff members and other Departments; designing special postage stamps; what the President’s role in the arts should be; and the Fine Arts Commission, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-GAH-01
In this interview Harrison discusses his interactions with John F. Kennedy [JFK] beginning when JFK was a congressman; the American Veterans Committee’s interest in JFK; JFK’s personal interactions with journalists; The New Republic’s support for Adlai E. Stevenson over the years and then for JFK in 1960; Stevenson’s position within JFK’s Administration; an article about the Bay of Pigs that Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., asked Harrison to pull; and Harrison’s opinion of JFK as President, among other issues.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-11-23-B
AR41, ST34, KN40
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-11-22-F
ST34
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1961-05-05-A
ST02, KN03
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-04
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses American aid to Argentina; American, British, and French involvement in Africa; the 1962 executive order about segregation in federally-funded housing; appointing African-American judges; changes John F. Kennedy [JFK] was contemplating in the Alliance for Progress; the Dominican crisis; the wheat sale to the Soviet Union; the Bobby Baker case; preparing for JFK’s 1964 campaign; RFK’s return to work after JFK’s assassination and disagreements among the Cabinet members and under President Lyndon B. Johnson; changes in White House staff and the Democratic Party; RFK’s political plans for after 1964; and JFK’s opinions of his staff and appointees, 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.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JKR-01
In this interview Ruina discusses the Nike-Zeus antiballistic-missile-missiles; briefing President John F. Kennedy [JFK] on the Nike-Zeus missiles; JFK’s comprehension of the briefing material and the type of questions he asked; Project Defender; the background and organization of the Advanced Research Projects Agency; the leadership and organization of the Department of Defense; interactions with Robert S. McNamara; competition between the military and the Defense Department on research and development and for resources and congressional funds; the period of new, advanced—but not always useful—technology; and Project AGILE and counterinsurgency efforts in Vietnam, among other issues.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-45
Sound recording of President John F. Kennedy dictating memoranda. President Kennedy dictates the first memorandum to Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy on a proposed article on counter-guerrilla tactics. President Kennedy dictates the second memorandum to Bundy on the policy for Cuba. President Kennedy dictates the third memorandum to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Lyman Lemnitzer on troop levels in Vietnam. President Kennedy dictates the fourth memorandum to Secretary of State Dean Rusk on foreign aid, defense, and balance of payments involving West Germany and Europe. President Kennedy dictates the fifth memorandum to Special Assistant to the President Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., on a proposed electoral commission.The recording begins in mid-sentence. Occasionally, the dictation belt skips.
Oral history
Robert F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
RFKOH-RWG-01
In this interview Greene discusses how she started working for the RFK Project; the process of obtaining an oral history, including how the interviewer should act and how to get the interviewee to speak more candidly; her relationship with Ethel Skakel Kennedy; the similarities and differences in the relationships among the Kennedy brothers; Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. and his work on the Kennedys; and the difficulties in an oral history project, among other issues.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-05-22-A
AR21, ST10, KN17
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-07-26-F
ST12
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-08-22-B
ST13
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-04-29-B
AR19, ST09, KN15
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-01-17-A
AR31, ST19, KN28
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-11-10-A
AR29, ST15
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-03-08-B
KN13
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A31-7-62
Funeral services for Eleanor Roosevelt in the rose garden on the Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park, New York. Those pictured include: President John F. Kennedy; Laura Franklin “Polly” Delano; Representative James Roosevelt (California); Gladys Irene Roosevelt; Elliott Roosevelt; Patricia Peabody Roosevelt; John Aspinwall Roosevelt; Anne Lindsay Roosevelt; Anna Roosevelt Halsted; James A. Halsted; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.; former president, Harry S. Truman; former president, General Dwight D. Eisenhower; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Earl Warren; Nina Warren; Supreme Court Justice, Arthur Goldberg; Dorothy Goldberg; Assistant Secretary of Labor for Labor Standards, Esther Peterson; Special Assistant to President Kennedy, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-KN-C19249
President John F. Kennedy (in rocking chair) meets with Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Premier of British Guiana. In background: Special Assistant to the President, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.; Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger; Secretary to the Assistant Press Secretary, Barbara Gamarekian; unidentified photographers. Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-116-9-61
President John F. Kennedy and others watch television coverage of the lift-off of astronaut Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. aboard "Freedom 7," on the first US manned sub-orbital flight. L-R: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Special Assistant to the President Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; Chief of Staff of the United States Navy Admiral Arleigh Burke; President Kennedy; First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Office of the President’s Secretary, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-116-8-61
President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy watch television coverage of the lift-off of astronaut Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. aboard "Freedom 7," on the first US manned sub-orbital flight. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and Special Assistant to the President, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (partially hidden behind Johnson), stand at left. Office of the President’s Secretary (Evelyn Lincoln), White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-116-6-61
President John F. Kennedy and others watch television coverage of the lift-off of astronaut Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. aboard "Freedom 7," on the first US manned sub-orbital flight. L-R: Unidentified woman; President Kennedy’s brother-in-law, Stephen Smith; Naval Aide to the President, Commander Tazewell Shepard; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Abraham Ribicoff; Assistant Special Counsel to the President, Richard Goodwin; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Paul Nitze; Special Assistant to the President, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; Military Aide to the President, General Chester V. Clifton; President Kennedy. Office of the President’s Secretary (Evelyn Lincoln), White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-116-5-61
President John F. Kennedy and others watch television coverage of the lift-off of astronaut Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. aboard "Freedom 7," on the first US manned sub-orbital flight. L-R: Unidentified woman; President Kennedy’s brother-in-law, Stephen Smith; Naval Aide to the President, Commander Tazewell Shepard; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Abraham Ribicoff; Assistant Special Counsel to the President, Richard Goodwin; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Paul Nitze; Special Assistant to the President, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; President Kennedy. Office of the President’s Secretary (Evelyn Lincoln), White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-116-4-61
President John F. Kennedy and others watch television coverage of the lift-off of astronaut Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. aboard "Freedom 7," on the first US manned sub-orbital flight. L-R: Naval Aide to the President, Commander Tazewell Shepard; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; Assistant Special Counsel to the President, Richard Goodwin; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Paul Nitze; Special Assistant to the President, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; President Kennedy. Standing in the doorway, partially hidden, are: President Kennedy’s brother-in law, Stephen Smith; Director of the Bureau of the Budget, David E. Bell; Chief of Staff of the United States Navy, Admiral Arleigh Burke. Office of the President’s Secretary (Evelyn Lincoln), White House, Washington, D.C.