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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-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.
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.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-061-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Joseph P. “Joe” Kennedy, Jr., documents his education, travels, and other aspects of his life from 1936 to 1940. The scrapbook contains clippings, photographs, postcards, and printed ephemera related to his time at Harvard University; his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.’s tenure as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom; trips to various European countries; and social events and activities. Newspaper and periodical clippings cover a wide range of topics, including Joe, Jr.’s athletic career and involvement in student government at Harvard; the Kennedy family’s arrival in London, England, following Joe, Sr.'s appointment as ambassador; the prospect of British involvement in the global conflict that became World War II; Joe, Sr.'s opinions on and actions related to the war; and other political and society news and events. Others featured in clippings and pictured in photographs include Joe, Jr.’s mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; his siblings, John F. “Jack” Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy, Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jean Kennedy, and Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy; his grandparents, John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine Hannon Fitzgerald; his cousin, Joseph Francis Gargan, Jr.; and family friend, Hugh Fraser. Printed ephemera pasted into the scrapbook include invitations to various parties, receptions, luncheons, dinners, weddings, meetings, and banquets, including a ball at Buckingham Palace; event programs; menus; tickets; and calling cards. Of note are a set of fingerprints that Joe, Jr., had taken during a visit to the Boston Police Headquarters; an envelope containing five bird feathers; photographs of Joe, Jr., dressed in drag for a Harvard theater production; clippings related to his purported relationship with figure skater Megan Taylor; a letter from British Member of Parliament, Anthony Eden; photographic prints and postcards that capture a Kennedy family trip to St. Moritz, Switzerland; a photograph of Joe, Jr., aboard the R.M.S. Mauretania; clippings related to Joe, Jr.’s voyage from London to New York City, New York; Spanish paper currency; an unsent postcard addressed to Katherine “Kikoo” Conboy, nanny to the Kennedy children, signed by Joe, Jr.; a photographic postcard signed by Alois Lang, the actor who portrayed Jesus in the 1934 performance of the Oberammergau Passion Play in Bavaria, Germany; contact prints of strips of 35mm black and white negatives that capture scenes from Joe, Jr.’s 1939 trip to Spain with Kathleen following the end of the Spanish Civil War, including images of Spanish Loyalist tanks and damage from the siege of the Alcázar of Toledo; a photographic postcard featuring an image of Adolf Hitler shaking hands with Hermann Göring; signed portrait photos of several unidentified women; and prints of four watercolor illustrations depicting scenes from the Spanish Civil War, credited to “Artillery Lieutenant Luis Serrano.” Other destinations pictured in photographic prints and postcards include Warsaw, Poland; Cannes, France; Capri, Rome, Venice, Naples, and Amalfi, Italy; Copenhagen, Denmark; Czechoslovakia; Killarney and other locations in Ireland; and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia. Original handwritten captions and inscriptions are written in black ink on some of the leaves. This photograph album contains 164 photographic prints and postcards, 134 newspaper and periodical clippings, 29 pieces of printed ephemera, six banknotes and two banknote fragments, four pieces of correspondence, and four prints of watercolor drawings.