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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.
Sound recording
White House Audio Collection
JFKWHA-043
Sound recording of the President’s News Conference of July 19, 1961 (News Conference 14). President Kennedy begins the press conference by reading a statement concerning the situation in Germany following Communist threats to close the border to East Berlin. He then makes several brief announcements concerning the Untied States economy; and announces that he would not be attending the Inter-American Economic and Social Council in Montevideo, Uruguay, but would send a delegation led by Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon in his place. Following these statements the President answers questions from the press on a variety of topics including federal aid to education, defense expenditures and funds, the Freedom Riders movement, and Undersecretary of State Chester Bowles.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-327-003
This folder contains memoranda to and from Arthur Schlesinger, Special Assistant to the President, on various issues including Berlin, renegotiation of United States military bases in Spain and Portugal, an announcement of plans for a future presidential library for President John F. Kennedy, and the reassignment of Chester Bowles from Undersecretary of State. Also included in this folder is a copy of a speech given by Schlesinger before the Indian Council of World Affairs in New Delhi, India titled, “Ideology vs. Democracy.”
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-054-015
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning the President's News Conference of July 19, 1961 (News Conference 14). President Kennedy began the press conference by reading a statement concerning the situation in Germany following Communist threats to close the border to East Berlin. He then made several brief announcements concerning the Untied States economy; and announced that he would not be attending the Inter-American Economic and Social Council in Montevideo, Uruguay, but would send a delegation led by Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon in his place. Following these statements the President answered questions from the press on a variety of topics including federal aid to education, defense expenditures and funds, the Freedom Riders movement, and Undersecretary of State Chester Bowles. Background materials in this folder consist of draft press conference announcements, the President's reading copy of his statement on Germany and Berlin, and a memorandum concerning the Department of State and Undersecretary of State Chester Bowles. The official White House transcript of the press conference and the stenotype transcript of the press conference are also included.