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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-QMH-01
In this interview Hogg discusses personal interactions with John F. Kennedy [JFK] and his impressions of him; becoming involved with the test ban treaty and traveling to Moscow for negotiations; his opinion of American and Soviet governments in regards to the treaty; W. Averell Harriman in Moscow; interactions between JFK and M. Harold Macmillan; and disagreements among the American delegation to Moscow, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RH-01
In this interview Hilsman discusses his initial interactions with John F. Kennedy [JFK]; Hilsman’s appointment to the Department of State during the Kennedy Administration; Foreign Service officers and “hot-seat” jobs; issues with Dean Rusk as Secretary of State; reorganizing the Bureau of Intelligence and Research; the flow of information between the State Department and the White House; staffing the State Department; the use of satellite intelligence; John A. McCone; working with and around Robert F. Kennedy [RFK]; JFK, RFK, and Vietnam; Edward G. Lansdale; Maxwell D. Taylor; the connection between Vietnam and Laos; U.S. action in Laos; the Buddhist crisis in Vietnam; the impact of WWII on Hilsman and JFK’s generation; and the 1963 coup in Vietnam, among other issues.
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-LCH-01
In this interview Heinz discusses how he came to work in the Office of International Security Affairs [ISA] in the Department of Defense [DOD]; the changeover in the DOD between the Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy Administrations; Heinz’s view of the Bay of Pigs; the regular operations and organization within ISA, including the different regional desks’ responsibilities; relationships between the ISA and other agencies; ISA as “the little State Department”; differences of opinion between DOD and the State Department, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the debate over whether to put troops in Laos; Robert S. McNamara and Roswell L. Gilpatric; the status of Okinawa; the question of U.S. defense perimeters; and W. Averell Harriman’s trip to Geneva and the neutralization solution for Laos, 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-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-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-KTY-03
In this interview Young discusses the creation of the Dean Rusk-Thanat Khoman Agreement in March 1962; drafting the Internal Security Program for Thailand and urging Thai officials to create their own; Robert F. Kennedy’s visit to Bangkok in 1962 and his support on Thai issues; Thailand’s road building program; the different approach to Asia by select assistant secretaries of State; and working with the country team for Thailand, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-KTY-02
In this interview Young discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the high level visit; the need for scholarly diplomacy in U.S. relations with Asian countries; the role of an ambassador; the relationships between the Embassies in Thailand and Laos; William Averell Harriman’s meetings with Thai and Laotian leaders; different strategy proposals for and conflicting opinions on Laos; U.S. programs in Thailand; and the Dean Rusk-Thanat Khoman Agreement, among other issues.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-06-13-E
AR22, ST11, KN18
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-274-6-62
Swearing-in ceremony for United States Ambassador to Australia, William C. Battle. President John F. Kennedy (right, facing away) looks on as Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke (center), administers the oath to Mr. Battle (left of President Kennedy). Also pictured: Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, W. Averell Harriman; former Governor of Virginia, John S. Battle; W. Cullen Battle, Jr.; Janie Battle; Robert W. Battle; Barry Webb Battle. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C. [Photograph by Harold Sellers]
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7300-I
President John F. Kennedy (right) and others laugh during the swearing-in ceremony for United States Ambassador to Australia, William C. Battle (center). Former Governor of Virginia, John S. Battle, stands left of Ambassador Battle; Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, W. Averell Harriman, stands at far left. Also pictured (standing right of President Kennedy): W. Cullen Battle, Jr.; Robert W. Battle; Barry Webb Battle; Janie Battle. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR7300-F
President John F. Kennedy (right) looks on as Chief of Protocol, Angier Biddle Duke (center left), administers the oath to newly-appointed United States Ambassador to Australia, William C. Battle, during Mr. Battle's swearing-in ceremony. Former Governor of Virginia, John S. Battle (mostly hidden), stands behind Mr. Duke; Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, W. Averell Harriman, stands at far left. Also pictured (standing right of President Kennedy): W. Cullen Battle, Jr.; Janie Battle; Robert W. Battle; Barry Webb Battle. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.