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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
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-21A
Dictation Belt 21A contains five sound recordings. Item 21A.1 is a telephone conversation held on June 3, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Governor Jimmie Davis of Louisiana. They discuss the prospect of independent electors and their potential effect on the 1964 election. They also discuss demonstrations held by African-Americans in Louisiana and the possibility of similar demonstrations occurring in other areas. In the beginning of the recording, [White House Operator?] says hello to President Kennedy, and later, the dictation belt skips. Item 21A.2 is a telephone conversation held on June 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. They discuss the decision of Juan T. Trippe, President of Pan American World Airways, to go ahead with an order for Concorde supersonic jet transports. They also talk about Trippe’s discussions with Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency Najeeb Halaby, and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 21A.3 is a telephone conversation held on June 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Federal Aviation Agency Administrator Najeeb Halaby. They discuss the decision of Jaun T. Trippe, President of Pan American World Airways, to go ahead with supersonic transport plans and the consequences for an American program. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 21A.4 is a telephone conversation held on June 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Administrator of the Agency for International Development David E. Bell. They discuss a strategy for increasing an international consortium’s funding of aid for India. Item 21A.5 is a telephone conversation held on June 4, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon. They discuss the decision of Jaun T. Trippe, President of Pan American World Airways, to purchase an option to order Concorde supersonic jet transports, and how the announcement of this deal with the governments of Great Britain and France will affect an American program. The recording of this conversation ends abruptly and continues on Dictation Belt 21B.1.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.