Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
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-095
Sound recording of the President’s News Conference of May 17, 1962 (News Conference 33). During this press conference President Kennedy answers questions from the press on a variety of topics including the investigation of Billie Sol Estes’ involvement in federal farm programs, United States-French political differences concerning the Berlin negotiations and French President Charles De Gaulle’s proposal for an independent European nuclear deterrent, the dispatch of United States forces to Thailand, and the situation in Laos.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-317-009
This folder contains summaries of meetings with President John F. Kennedy. Topics include the Pathet Lao and the threat of communism in Laos, nuclear weapons testing and disarmament, and Berlin. Also included in this folder is a memorandum of a conversation between President Kennedy, French Minister of Culture André Malraux, French Ambassador to the United States Hervé Alphand, and others discussing French resistance to the admittance of Great Britain into the Common Market, U.S. attitude towards nuclear weapons for France, and the U.S. presence in Europe.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-317-006
This folder contains summaries of meetings with President John F. Kennedy. Topics include Laos and a failed SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) initiative, development of a civil defense policy, and United States policy towards the Dominican Republic following the assassination of Generalissimo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. Also included in this folder is a summary of President Kennedy’s trip to Europe and his conversations with President of France Charles de Gaulle and Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-116a-001
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning France. Materials included correspondence between President Kennedy and President of France Charles de Gaulle regarding the Congo, Laos, and Berlin. This folder contains some foreign language material.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-056-007
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning the President's News Conference of May 17, 1962 (News Conference 33). During this press conference President Kennedy answered questions from the press on a variety of topics including the investigation of Billie Sol Estes' involvement in federal farm programs; United States-French political differences concerning the Berlin negotiations and French President Charles De Gaulle's proposal for an independent European nuclear deterrent; the dispatch of United States forces to Thailand; and the situation in Laos. Background materials in this folder consist of briefing papers on domestic and foreign affairs including the economy and the Billie Sol Estes case. Of note are Department of State telegrams concerning West New Guinea dispute between the Dutch and Indonesian governments. The official White House transcript of the press conference and the stenotype transcript of the press conference are also included.