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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-BBH-01
In this interview Hickenlooper discusses various meetings with President John F. Kennedy [JFK] on foreign relations; Soviet and American nuclear testing; the nuclear test ban treaty; the Bay of Pigs invasion; Laos and Vietnam; the Punta del Este Conference in 1962; the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962; Hickenlooper's 1962 reelection campaign; traveling with JFK to Costa Rica; the 1961 Berlin crisis; JFK's congressional relations; and social occasions at the Kennedy White House, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-DEB-02
Bell discusses U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) during the Kennedy administration including the process of and difficulties with getting Congressional appropriations for foreign aid; and Vietnam and Laos, 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-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-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-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.
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.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JCT-03
In this interview, he discusses Roger Hilsman’s 1963 speech on firm policies towards China, the changing approaches to foreign policy in Southeast Asia between the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and the conflicting ideologies on U.S. involvement in Vietnam, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-KTY-01
In this interview Young discusses issues with American policy in Southeast Asia and the need for more informed decision makers; the process of his appointment as Ambassador to Thailand; Thai distrust over French actions in SEATO [South East Asia Treaty Organization] and inaction in Laos; and the various debates over U.S. actions in Laos and Thailand in the early 1960s, among other issues.
Textual folder
Richard W. Reuter Personal Papers
RWRPP-011-006
Textual folder
Richard W. Reuter Personal Papers
RWRPP-011-005
Textual folder
Richard W. Reuter Personal Papers
RWRPP-011-004
Textual folder
James C. Thomson Personal Papers
JCTPP-024-018
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Harris Wofford
JFKWHSFHW-006-016
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-204-011
This file contains Department of State telegrams regarding relations between the United States and South Vietnam (officially known as the Republic of Vietnam). Topics include U.S. economic aid; the political climate in South Vietnam surrounding President Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu, the President's brother and chief advisor; leaks to the press; and the response of the South Vietnamese government to demonstrations by Buddhists and students.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-202-002
This folder contains Department of State telegrams regarding a coup d’etat in South Vietnam and the deaths of President Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu, the President's brother and chief advisor; establishment of a provisional government; reactions to the coup; and potential United States involvement. Also included are telegrams regarding the South Vietnamese economy and U.S. aid, and military efforts against the Viet Cong.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-201-001
This file contains Department of State telegrams regarding South Vietnam. Topics include relations with the United States, U.S. aid, the South Vietnamese economy and the Commercial Import Program (CIP), religious persecution and demonstrations by Buddhists, military operations against the Viet Cong, and the government of President of South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-200-011
This folder contains Department of State telegrams regarding South Vietnam. Topics include United States policy towards South Vietnam and the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem, Ngo Dinh Nhu, and his wife Madame Nhu (Tran Le Xuan); U.S. aid; demonstrations by Buddhists and students; the conflict against the Viet Cong; and reports of a proposed attack on the U.S. embassy in Saigon.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-200-006
This folder contains Department of State telegrams regarding South Vietnam. Topics include United States policy towards South Vietnam and the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem, Ngo Dinh Nhu, and his wife Madame Nhu (Tran Le Xuan); U.S. aid; religious persecution and demonstrations by Buddhists; and U.S. military objectives in the conflict against the Viet Cong. Of note is a draft of a letter from President John F. Kennedy to President Diem.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-306-008
This folder contains briefing papers for President John F. Kennedy's press conference of November 14, 1963 (News Conference 64). Topics include foreign aid, disarmament, the Cold War, Vietnam, and Peru. Additional briefing papers concern the Soviet Union including travel restrictions of Soviet citizens in the United States, trade with the Soviet Bloc, the Soviet military in Cuba, and incidents on the Autobahn near Berlin.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-323-007
This folder contains memoranda from Walt Rostow, Deputy Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and later Chairman of the Policy Planning Council in the Department of State, to President John F. Kennedy and McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Topics include foreign aid, speech theme suggestions for the President, policy towards the Communist Bloc, and a proposal for domestic and foreign economic policy. Also included in this folder is a transcript of a “Meet the Press” interview with Rostow discussing nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union, Laos, Vietnam, and communism.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-317-003
This folder contains memoranda, meeting summaries, and reports regarding United States policy towards South Vietnam. Topics include strategies for negotiations with President Ngo Dinh Diem and suspension or cessation of commodities and military aid in the fight against the Viet Cong. Also included in this folder is a draft telegram to U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-317-002
This folder contains memoranda and annexes to the papers prepared by Roger Hilsman, Assistant Secretary of State, regarding United States policy towards Vietnam and action plans for the removal of Ngo Dinh Nhu, advisor to President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam. Also included in this folder are memoranda by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on potential suspension of United States military aid to South Vietnam.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-319a-007
This folder contains memoranda by Chester Bowles, President John F. Kennedy’s Special Representative for Asian, African, and Latin American Affairs, regarding relations between Taiwan and Communist China, discrimination against private United States investments and industry by Mexico, and the need for a restriction on distribution of aid to Latin American countries. Also included in this folder are memoranda and a draft of a proposed speech for President Kennedy regarding U.S. policies towards Southeast Asia, particularly Laos and Vietnam.