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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.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1961-05-25-D
AR07, ST02
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-05
In this interview Komer discusses working with McGeorge Bundy; the “inner circle” of the Bundy State Department; Komer’s major contacts; the intelligence system; the power and responsibilities of the State Department; how Bundy screened what President John F. Kennedy [JFK] would see; relations with other key officials; Robert F. Kennedy and foreign policy issues; the Bundy State Department and White House staff; the “little State Department” in the White House; the bureaucratic role of the State Department; U.S. foreign policy in Asia; relations with key U.S. Ambassadors; handling Arab-Israeli issues; domestic pressures of American-Jewish community on JFK; Arabists in the Kennedy Administration; working with Myer Feldman on Israeli issues; the United States, Saudi Arabia, and oil; filling the power vacuum left by the British; dealing with Congress on foreign aid matters; counterinsurgency; and looking back at programs during the Kennedy Administration, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-04
In this interview Komer discusses President John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] interest in Indonesia and Iran; U.S.-Indonesian relations; the Indian Ocean and Iran task forces; JFK’s contact with the Iranian Shah; Pakistani-Afghani disputes; U.S. aid to Afghanistan; Komer’s attempt to revamp the military aid program; McGeorge Bundy and Walt W. Rostow as President JFK’s advisers; and JFK’s direct contact with a select few National Security staff, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RFK-08
In this interview Robert F. Kennedy [RFK] discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] Cabinet and appointing the various secretaries; problems in and JFK’s wariness of the Department of State; the ideal State Department organization; problems with Dean Rusk; Maxwell D. Taylor’s Cuba investigation; the Bay of Pigs and its effect on U.S. action in Laos; John McCone’s prediction of missiles in Cuba; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and foreign policy; JFK’s vice-presidential choice at the 1960 Democratic National Convention; Johnson’s hesitant acceptance of the vice-presidential slot; RFK’s appointment as Attorney General; RFK’s involvement in staffing the White House for JFK and other presidential appointments; Lord Harlech (William David Ormsby-Gore); and State Department staff, 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.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR6613-F
Cabinet Meeting. L-R: Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara (partially hidden); Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Secretary of Agriculture, Orville Freeman; Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall; United States Representative to the United Nations, Adlai E. Stevenson; unidentified man with back to camera; Secretary of State, Dean Rusk; Assistant Special Counsel to the President, Richard Goodwin; Under Secretary of Commerce, Edward Gudeman (in back); Special Assistant to the President, Frederick G. Dutton (behind Goodwin, wearing glasses); Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA), Edward R. Murrow (with back to camera). Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-AR6613-B
Cabinet Meeting. Clockwise around table, beginning at left: Deputy Postmaster General, H. W. “Bill” Brawley; United States Representative to the United Nations, Adlai E. Stevenson; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Secretary of Agriculture, Orville Freeman; Secretary of Labor, Arthur Goldberg; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Abraham Ribicoff; Under Secretary of Commerce, Edward Gudeman; Secretary of State, Dean Rusk; President John F. Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon; Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall; Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA), Edward R. Murrow (with back to camera). Seated at right along window, L-R: Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner; Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, Walter Heller; Special Assistant to the President, Frederick G. Dutton. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photograph
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-ST-126-1-61
Cabinet Meeting. Clockwise around table, beginning at left: Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA), Edward R. Murrow (with back to camera); Deputy Postmaster General, H. W. “Bill” Brawley; United States Representative to the United Nations, Adlai E. Stevenson; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara; Secretary of Agriculture, Orville Freeman; Secretary of Labor, Arthur Goldberg; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Abraham Ribicoff; Under Secretary of Commerce, Edward Gudeman; Secretary of State, Dean Rusk (hidden); President John F. Kennedy; Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon (facing away); Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall. Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Jerome B. Wiesner, stands at right. Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, Walter Heller, and Special Assistant to the President, Frederick G. Dutton, sit at right in front of window. Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C.