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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-06
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] and Marshall discuss civil rights legislation, and how it was innovative and yet inevitable; meetings between RFK and businessmen on civil rights legislation; RFK’s unintentional intimidation of the businessmen based on his history with Senate hearings on labor; attempting to put leadership in the community (North and South) to deal with the problem of segregation and other racial discrimination; hostile treatment of RFK in Alabama; working with the NAACP on school desegregation; the desegregation of the University of Alabama, and the question of if and how to bring in troops to help; and using the incident at the University of Alabama as a political stepping stone, 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.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-24B
Dictation Belt 24B contains three sound recordings from July 30, 1963. Item 24B.1 is a brief fragment of a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and an unidentified man (probably Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations Frederick G. Dutton). They discuss putting together a congressional delegation for an unidentified occasion (probably the signing of the treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). Item 24B.2 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy, Special Assistant to the President Lawrence F. O’Brien, and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. They discuss inviting United States Senators to join a congressional delegation to the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 24B.3 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. They discuss a legislative strategy for dealing with delays in the United States Senate on a defense appropriations bill and a military construction authorization bill. They also discuss possible effects of defense contract cuts on employment in California and on the 1964 election.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.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-14B
Dictation Belt 14B contains six sound recordings from March 12, 1963. The recording of the conversation in item 14B.1 begins on Dictation Belt 14A.5. Item 14B.1 is part of a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon. They continue to discuss Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules on expense accounts. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 14B.2 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Under Secretary of the Navy Paul B. Fay. They discuss possible naval base closings and the outlook for a bid by the city of San Francisco to host the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 14B.3 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Richard N. Goodwin, Secretary-general for the International Peace Corps Secretariat. They discuss preparing remarks for President Kennedy to deliver during his visit to Costa Rica. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 14B.4 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell L. Gilpatric. They discuss hearings on the TFX airplane. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 14B.5 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Lawrence F. O'Brien, Special Assistant to the President. They discuss a construction bill, a pay raise issue, and their effects on the federal budget. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 14B.6 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and Assistant Secretary of Defense Arthur Sylvester. They discuss Sylvester’s testimony at a hearing involving the TFX airplane.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.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-50
Dictation Belt 50 contains four sound recordings. Item 50.1 is a recording of two telephone exchanges. The first exchange is a telephone conversation between Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln and a woman called “Barbara” who answers the telephone in the office of White House Social Secretary Letitia Baldrige. They discuss President John F. Kennedy’s decisions on social affairs, one involving Chief Justice Earl Warren and another involving a luncheon. A long delay precedes the conversation. [White House Operator?] places the call at Lincoln’s request. Machine noise follows the conversation. The second exchange is a brief telephone exchange between President John F. Kennedy and a White House Operator. President Kennedy asks the operator to place a call to Charles Bartlett. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 50.2 is a telephone conversation held in 1962 between President John F. Kennedy and an unidentified man. They discuss James H. Meredith’s accusations of segregation within the United States Army. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 50.3 is a telephone conversation held in 1962 between President John F. Kennedy and Senator George A. Smathers of Florida. They discuss the signing of an unidentified bill, southern politics, and other congressional matters. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 50.4 is a brief fragment of a telephone conversation held in 1962 between President John F. Kennedy and an unidentified man. The topic of discussion is unclear. The recording begins in mid-conversation and ends abruptly.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
Bernard L. Boutin Personal Papers
BLBPP-MF23-003
This folder contains material pertaining to written statements and testimony by Bernard Boutin before Congressional committees. Topics include federal budget appropriations for the General Services Administration (GSA); proposed bills and legislation; the federal telecommunications system; the economics of military procurement and supply; and the disposition of federal property such as Ellis Island and Mitchel Air Force Base. Specific documents found in this file include a Report to Congress by the Comptroller General on "Unnecessary Costs to the Government for Commercial Long Distance Telephone Calls Made by Civil Agencies" (March 1964); a compilation of "GSA Selected Statistics, July 1, 1952 - June 30, 1962"; and an "Inventory of Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Equipment in the Federal Government" (August 1962). In addition, there are copies of a few statements by other individuals such as Joseph Campbell, U.S. Comptroller General; Congressman Jack Brooks; George B. Hartzog, Jr., National Park Service; Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor of New York; and Wayne C. Grover, Archivist of the United States.