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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LDB-03
Battle discusses United Nations Educational, Scienfitic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); staffing issues and changes in the State Department, particular after the Bay of Pigs invasion; and initiatives of the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LDB-01
Battle discusses time as special assistant to the Secretary & Executive Secretary, roles of key administrators in the State Department, relations between the White House and State Department, and the fallout from the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LJB-01
Barrows discusses the 1961 plebiscite to determine the fate of British Cameroon, U.S.-Cameroon relations during the John F. Kennedy administration, and differences in State Department policy towards Francophone and Anglophone African nations, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-DFB-01
Barnes discusses meetings between John F. Kennedy (JFK) and Latin American heads of state, JFK’s relationship with Latin American leaders including Rómulo Betancourt of Venezuela and Arturo Frondizi of Argentina, and JFK’s assassination, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-GWB-04
Ball discusses international economic issues, including balance of payments, conflicts between the U.S. State and Treasury departments, and the steel crisis, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-WPB-03
Bundy discusses 1961 and 1963 debates about supporting a coup in Vietnam a trip that Bundy, Robert S. McNamara, Maxwell D. Taylor, and other took to Vietnam to gauge sentiments within the country about Ngo Dinh Diem’s government; the November 1963 coup that overthrew Diem, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-WPB-02
Bundy discusses documents from the 1961 National Security Files about Vietnam, increasing troop strength, questioning Ngo Dinh Diem’s ability to lead Vietnam, use of defoliants and other unconventional weapons, and U.S. counterinsurgency theory, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-WPB-01
Bundy discusses planning the Bay of Pigs invasion; escalation of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam during the Kennedy Administration, and Robert S. McNamara’s role in developing Vietnam policy; and U.S. military aid to India, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-WGB-01
Brown discusses key political and military figures and events in Laos during his tenure as ambassador; instances where his opinion differed from the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C.; U.S. aid and military involvement in Laos, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-CBB-02
Bowles discusses U.S. ambassadors, his attempts to reorganize the State Department, the Kennedy administration’s failure to support liberal reform movements around the world, and Bowles’ conflicts with Secretary of State Dean Rusk, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-CBB-01
Bowles discusses his role as foreign policy advisor during the presidential campaign; staffing the State Department; relationship with Dean Rusk and John F. Kennedy; foreign policy towards developing nations; and leaving his position as Under Secretary of State, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-EDAG-06
In this interview Gullion discusses the State Department’s staff for Africa; the U.S. policy towards the Congo and Katangese secession; the process of and difficulties with arranging a meeting between Moise Kapenda Tshombe and Cyrille Adoula at Kitona Air Base; and UN military operations and other actions in the Congo, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-EDAG-04
In this interview Gullion discusses his impressions of President John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] character; JFK’s attitude toward and experience with disarmament; President JFK and the arts; and JFK’s concept of the presidency, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-EDAG-03
In this interview Gullion discusses the fighting in the Congo over Katangese secession; the UN forces involved in the Katanga fighting, including prominent generals; John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] role in the Congolese crisis and various influences on his view of U.S. and UN policy in the Congo; differing opinions on the U.S. Congo policy; and the importance of Belgian and British views on the Congo to JFK, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-EDAG-02
In this interview Gullion discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] views on the roles of U.S. Ambassadors and diplomatic missions; Gullion’s work in the Congo, 1961-1963; JFK’s views of the Congo and of Africa; UN policy in the Congo and the U Thant plan; and Moise Kapenda Tshombe and Cyrille Adoula and Katangese secession, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-EDAG-01
In this interview Gullion discusses his first impressions of and early relationship with Congressman John F. Kennedy [JFK]; JFK’s 1951 visit to Indochina and its affect on his stance on foreign policy; the State Department’s issues with JFK throughout his career; and JFK as a Senator, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-06
In this interview Komer discusses U.S. aid to India and Pakistan and some problems involved with it, including the question of long-term U.S. aid and a shift in focus from Pakistan to India; problems with the Agency for International Development; oil and U.S. policy; U.S. involvement in the Congo; Komer’s meetings with President John F. Kennedy [JFK] and how Komer briefed him; the relations among JFK, Dean Rusk, John Kenneth Galbraith, Adlai E. Stevenson, and McGeorge Bundy; JFK’s interest in India and Pakistan and his attempt at a mediation between the two on Kashmir; and JFK and Algeria and Morocco, 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-ROWK-04
In this interview Komer discusses President John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] interest in Indonesia and Iran; U.S.-Indonesian relations; the Indian Ocean and Iran task forces; JFK’s contact with the Iranian Shah; Pakistani-Afghani disputes; U.S. aid to Afghanistan; Komer’s attempt to revamp the military aid program; McGeorge Bundy and Walt W. Rostow as President JFK’s advisers; and JFK’s direct contact with a select few National Security staff, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-03
In this interview Komer discusses negotiating disengagement with Gamal Abdel Nasser and Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia; John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] involvement in the Yemen crisis and the negotiations with Nasser and Faisal; U.S. New Guinea policy and the Dutch-Indonesian conflict; JFK and counterinsurgency; Komer and police programs as part of U.S. counterinsurgency efforts; JFK’s policy towards and involvement with India and Pakistan; U.S. military assistance to India, 1962; and U.S. missions to Pakistan and India, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-02
In this interview Komer discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] personal diplomacy with the United Arab Republic [UAR] through letters; normalizing U.S.-Egypt relations; the Yemen conflict and U.S. interests; negotiating Yemen with M. Harold Macmillan and the attempt to have the United Kingdom recognize the Yemen Republic; dealing with Gamal Abdel Nasser; and difficulties with Saudi Arabia and the UAR, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-01
In this interview Komer discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] stance on U.S. foreign policy during his presidency; JFK’s affinity for preventive diplomacy; comparisons between JFK and previous Presidents on foreign policy focus; JFK’s intellectual curiosity and “flair for detail,” and his willingness to make the unpopular decision, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-08
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] Cabinet and appointing the various secretaries; problems in and JFK’s wariness of the Department of State; the ideal State Department organization; problems with Dean Rusk; Maxwell D. Taylor’s Cuba investigation; the Bay of Pigs and its effect on U.S. action in Laos; John McCone’s prediction of missiles in Cuba; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and foreign policy; JFK’s vice-presidential choice at the 1960 Democratic National Convention; Johnson’s hesitant acceptance of the vice-presidential slot; RFK’s appointment as Attorney General; RFK’s involvement in staffing the White House for JFK and other presidential appointments; Lord Harlech (William David Ormsby-Gore); and State Department staff, 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-03
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses the 1962 steel crisis; some major issues and accomplishments of John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] presidency; choosing the U.S. Ambassador to Russia; foreign aid and treaties; the military coup in Peru; the space race during the Kennedy Administration; the 1962 congressional and gubernatorial campaigns; JFK’s dinner for the Nobel Prize winners; the Polaris submarines; problems with the New York Herald Tribune; New York politics; various pieces of federal legislation, 1961–1963; the Dominican Republic; Department of Justice investigations under RFK; the difficulties of being Attorney General; congressional issues in early 1963; the Vietnam War escalation in 1963; American support of the coup in Vietnam; Henry Cabot Lodge as the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam; the prisoners from the Bay of Pigs invasion; American actions in Cuba; unemployment and civil rights; RFK’s meeting with James Baldwin; JFK’s trips to the South and speeches on civil rights; the nuclear test ban treaty; and JFK’s trip to Ireland and Rome, among other issues.