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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-KGH-02
In this interview Heath discusses how she came to join the Office of Education; the leadership within the Office of Education and different ideas on how it should be run; other agencies within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare [HEW]; changes in the status and administration of HEW; various pieces of education legislation; the 1954 Supreme Court decision on separate but equal and segregation in schools; international education affairs; the reasons for pushing for general school aid over categorical aid; the 1955 White House conference on education; coalescing all the organizations within HEW into one voice for the Department; working with other Departments; the International Labor Organization and the United Nations; getting political support from the different presidential Administrations; the nationalization of the Suez Canal; the shift to considering social matters in a much broader context; the impact of the Sputnik launch on the Office of Education; and the National Defense Education Act, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LWH-01
In this interview, Lord Harlech discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] early opinions on disarmament; dealings with Nikita S. Khrushchev and the Soviet Union; the Cuban crisis; issues with selling and testing American missiles; how JFK’s relationship with British Prime Minister M. Harold Macmillan developed over time and how they worked together on specific issues; how JFK’s interest in politics and foreign affairs developed; difficulties with France over their nuclear program in 1962; JFK’s skills and character; JFK’s different circles of friends; and JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis’ approaches to life in the public eye, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JAC-04
In this interview Carver discusses dealing with a backlog at the National Park Service from the previous Administration; working with and around both preservation lobbies and commercial interests; the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission’s report (1962); the creation of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation in the Department of the Interior; and the question of self-government in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-EMB-02
Boggs discusses the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation, the different task forces, drafting its final report, the disciplines and personalities represented on the Panel, and the Panel’s investigative mission to the Netherlands, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-KMB-03
Birkhead discusses specific agriculture legislation during the Kennedy administration, including among others the 1962 farm bill and 1963 wheat referendum, and Southern members of Congress, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-NEH-02
In this interview Halaby discusses different civil rights issues throughout John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] Administration, including the process of and problems with desegregating airport terminals in accordance with Boynton v. Virginia (1960); the 1961 hijacking of a plane, referred to as the El Paso incident; constructing and dedicating the new John Foster Dulles Airport; federal transportation policy; different White House staff members and procedures; and running the Federal Aviation Administration, including problems with certain political figures, 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.
Oral history
Robert F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
RFKOH-JTC-02
In this interview Conway discusses working with John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] 1960 presidential campaign; the negative reaction to the choice of Lyndon B. Johnson for JFK’s running mate; labor leadership and JFK’s campaign; unions and the religious issue during the 1960 election; discussing presidential appointments with JFK after the election; Conway’s role in JFK’s Administration; the Housing and Home Finance Agency, legislation, and working with Congress; accelerated public works, the Department of Commerce, and problems with the extent of presidential powers; Walter Reuther and his relationship with JFK; confrontations between Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy [RFK]; working with RFK on civil rights marches and their legislative demands; and interactions with RFK from 1964 through 1968, among other issues.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-18B
Dictation Belt 18B contains three sound recordings. The recording of the conversation in item 18B.1 begins on Dictation Belt 18A.7. This is a sound recording of part of a telephone conversation held on May 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Representative Edith S. Green of Oregon. They complete their discussion about legislative strategy on an education bill and dealing with the National Education Association of the United States. Item 18B.2 is a telephone conversation held on May 8, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. They discuss a strategy for the State Department to deal with an unidentified issue at the United Nations (U.N.). The recording begins in mid-conversation. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 18B.3 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. They discuss administering the State Department and making staff changes at the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). They also discuss conferring with Carl Kaysen on a plan to assist Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique’s effort to gain independence. The beginning of the recording is garbled. Machine noise follows the conversation.Transcript included. Each item listed above is also available individually as an excerpt derived from this full-length digitized recording. See Related Records for more information.
Textual folder
James Saxon Personal Papers
JSPP-002-011
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-090-002
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning the Department of the Treasury. Topics include the Self-Employed Individuals Tax Retirement Act (H.R. 10), a progress report on long-range international payments, the Federal Reserve, a bill for foreign aid appropriations (H.R. 13175), and the resignation of John M. Leddy as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. Also included in this folder is a report to the President from Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon regarding the balance of payments.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-334-009
This file contains papers on foreign affairs training programs by the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Department of Defense, Agency for International Development (AID), and United States Information Agency (USIA); and draft legislation by Chief of the International Division of the Bureau of the Budget Robert Amory to establish The National Academy of Foreign Affairs for continuing education and training in the areas of national security and foreign affairs. The materials in this file relate to National Security Action Memoranda number 131 (NSAM 131) titled, “Training Objectives for Counter-Insurgency.”
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-077-006
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning the Department of Defense. Topics include the establishment of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), amendments to the 1962 budget for additional appropriations to foreign assistance programs and defense, the crisis in Berlin, and the Act for International Development (AID). Also included in this folder are numerous newspaper clippings.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-089-001
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning the Department of the Treasury. Topics include consolidated monthly economic and budget reports, the Social Progress Trust Fund Agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank, the Commission on Money and Credit, and the Clark Community Facilities Bill (S. 986). Also included in this folder is a copy of a speech by Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon on the Administration's budget and fiscal policies.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-297-006
This folder contains memoranda concerning foreign aid appropriations and the presence of the United States military in European countries.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-063-005
This folder contains memoranda between the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, and Myer "Mike" Feldman, Deputy Special Counsel to the President. Topics include the du Pont tax bill, the Sugar Act, the lumber industry, and the Interstate Commerce Commission prohibiting the General Accounting Office from examining records regarding a loan guarantee to New Haven Railroad.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-088-003
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning the Department of State. Topics include legislation to establish the United States Disarmament Agency for World Peace and Security, Under Secretary of State Chester Bowles, aid to Guinea, issues with the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union, and details of the ceremony to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Venezuela’s independence. Of note is a letter from the President to Vice President Johnson regarding the disarmament agency legislation.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-080-013
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning the Department of Justice. Topics include numerous legislation issues, Federal loans to parochial schools, the appointment of Federal judges, steel prices, establishment of the President’s Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime, possible leaks of classified information, and the Volta River project. Of note is correspondence between the President and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations J. Edgar Hoover. Also included in this folder are numerous memoranda for the President from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.