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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.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-318-004
This folder contains memoranda and indexes of materials compiled for President John F. Kennedy’s weekend reading. Topics include various matters regarding Cuba, France, Vietnam, Germany, and the Soviet Union.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Pre-Presidential Papers. Senate Files
JFKSEN-0894-004
This folder contains copies of Senator John F. Kennedy's speech before the United States Senate titled, "The War in Indochina." In his speech the Senator addresses reports on French success with fighting communism in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, and discusses proposals for increased U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia in the form of military aid.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-197-005
This file contains Department of State telegrams regarding South Vietnam. Topics include relations between South Vietnam and Cambodia, including tensions arising from Vietnamese Air Force strikes near the Cambodian border, and a neutrality agreement proposed by Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia; United States and South Vietnamese military actions against the Viet Cong; and French foreign policy in Vietnam.
Textual folder
John F. Kennedy Personal Papers
JFKPP-036-011
This folder contains materials associated with John F. Kennedy's The Strategy of Peace, a compilation of speeches and statements concerning foreign policy by Senator Kennedy published during the 1960 Presidential campaign. Materials in this folder include partial drafts of adapted speeches concerning the spread of communist ideology in Southeast Asia, possible American military involvement in Vietnam, and French colonial conflicts, specifically in Algeria.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-MTG-119-002
Sound recording of a meeting held on November 2, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy, Under Secretary of State George Ball, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy, and Under Secretary of State W. Averell Harriman. They discuss the delivery of wheat on American ships to the Soviet Union, alternatives, and related discussions with American unions. Other topics of discussion include a review of the coup situation in Vietnam; Berlin, Germany; plans for a visit by President of France Charles DeGaulle; and the allocation of resources by the Soviet Union. Also Under Secretary Ball talks to Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz on the telephone. This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 119/A55, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding and following this one. See Related Records to access Tape 119/A55 in its entirety.