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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-MJH-01
In this interview Hillenbrand discusses President John F. Kennedy [JFK] entering office amid the Berlin crisis; working as the Director of the Office of German Affairs with JFK; the Berlin Task Force and the Ambassadorial Group; JFK's attitude towards the German problem and German reactions to the Kennedy Administration; the State Department and Germany; the 1961 Vienna talks with Nikita S. Khrushchev; the erection of the Berlin Wall and the crisis it generated; the Kennedy Administration's reaction and response to the Berlin Wall; talks with Russia over Berlin and the Wall; the press "leaks crisis" on the Germany problem; JFK's working style and approach to problems, according to Hillenbrand; the impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis on the Berlin talks; JFK's German policy and relationship with German leaders; and what JFK accomplished related to Germany, 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-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-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-1962-10-29-A
ST15
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-25-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. Clockwise from top right side of table: Under Secretary of State George Ball, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul Nitze, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Donald Wilson, Special Counsel to the President Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (mostly hidden), Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone (mostly hidden behind Director Foster). Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-22-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. (L-R) President Kennedy, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (seated). Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-19-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. (L-R) President Kennedy, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara (seated), and White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-18-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. Seated at table (clockwise from bottom left): Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul Nitze, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Donald Wilson (partially hidden), Special Counsel to the President Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone (mostly hidden), Under Secretary of State George Ball (partially hidden), Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy stands at far left; President Kennedy (looking down, with hands on table) and Secretary of State Dean Rusk stand at far right; Executive Secretary of the National Security Council Bromley Smith (back left) sits against the wall, near the bookcase. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-16-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. Seated at table (clockwise from bottom left): Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul Nitze, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Donald Wilson (partially hidden), Special Counsel to the President Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone, Under Secretary of State George Ball (mostly hidden), Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Kennedy (mostly hidden behind Secretary Rusk), and White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger (on far edge of frame) stand at right; Executive Secretary of the National Security Council Bromley Smith (back left) sits against the wall, near the bookcase. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-A26-1-62
President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) regarding the crisis in Cuba. Clockwise from top right side of table: Under Secretary of State George Ball, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Paul Nitze, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Donald Wilson, Special Counsel to the President Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Assistant to the President for National Security McGeorge Bundy (mostly hidden), Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (mostly hidden), Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) William C. Foster, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John McCone (mostly hidden behind Director Foster). Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.