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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.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-BBH-01
In this interview Hickenlooper discusses various meetings with President John F. Kennedy [JFK] on foreign relations; Soviet and American nuclear testing; the nuclear test ban treaty; the Bay of Pigs invasion; Laos and Vietnam; the Punta del Este Conference in 1962; the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962; Hickenlooper's 1962 reelection campaign; traveling with JFK to Costa Rica; the 1961 Berlin crisis; JFK's congressional relations; and social occasions at the Kennedy White House, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LWH-01
In this interview, Lord Harlech discusses John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] early opinions on disarmament; dealings with Nikita S. Khrushchev and the Soviet Union; the Cuban crisis; issues with selling and testing American missiles; how JFK’s relationship with British Prime Minister M. Harold Macmillan developed over time and how they worked together on specific issues; how JFK’s interest in politics and foreign affairs developed; difficulties with France over their nuclear program in 1962; JFK’s skills and character; JFK’s different circles of friends; and JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis’ approaches to life in the public eye, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-WIEK-01
This written statement focuses on William E. Knox’s trips to the Soviet Union and Knox’s meeting with Chairman Krushchev in 1962, 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.
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.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-MDT-03
In this interview Taylor discusses the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vienna Summit, Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Multilateral force and military trends during the Kennedy Administration among other topics.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-26A-3
Sound recording of a telephone conversation held on August 19, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Under Secretary of State George W. Ball. They discuss foreign aid given to countries that engage in merchant shipping to Cuba. They also discuss foreign aid for India and negotiations with the Soviet Union on nuclear test inspections. They also discuss American troops in Europe and German officials’ views on the matter.Transcript included. This sound recording was originally recorded on Dictation Belt 26A, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding and following this one. To hear all of the recordings on the Dictation Belt, see Digital Identifier: JFKPOF-TPH-26A, Title: Telephone recordings: Dictation Belt 26A.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-26A
Dictation Belt 26A contains six sound recordings. Item 26A.1 is a telephone conversation held on August 16, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. In preparation for Secretary Rusk’s press conference, they discuss the prospect of answering a question about France and a treaty banning atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, later known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) or the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). The recording begins in mid-conversation, and machine noise follows the conversation. Item 26A.1A is a telephone conversation between Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln and a White House Operator. The operator brings Lincoln up to date on President John F. Kennedy’s recent telephone calls. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 26A.2 is a telephone conversation held on August 16, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. They discuss the possibility of appointing United States Ambassador to Costa Rica Raymond L. Telles to a new position. They also discuss the prospects of political problems in California, where Latin American groups could resent a perceived favoritism in appointments given to Texans. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 26A.3 is a telephone conversation held on August 19, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Under Secretary of State George W. Ball. They discuss foreign aid given to countries that engage in merchant shipping to Cuba. They also discuss foreign aid for India and negotiations with the Soviet Union on nuclear test inspections. They also discuss American troops in Europe and German officials’ views on the matter. Item 26A.4 is a brief telephone exchange between President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Attorney General Kennedy asks to visit President Kennedy to review an unidentified matter. Item 26A.5 is a brief fragment of a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and an unidentified man. The recording is noisy and ends abruptly. The full conversation (including this fragment) is recorded on Dictation Belt 26B.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-30-2
Sound recording of three telephone exchanges. The first exchange is a telephone conversation held on October 22, 1962, between President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. They discuss ways to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis and consider possible consequences, including nuclear war and actions taken by the Soviet Union in Berlin, Germany. The recording begins in mid-conversation.The second exchange is chatter involving [White House Operators?]. Machine noise follows.
The third exchange is a brief fragment of a telephone conversation between Secretary of State Dean Rusk and an unidentified man. They talk about an impending address to the nation on providing an “effective quarantine” against a threat.
This sound recording was originally recorded on Dictation Belt 30, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding this one. To hear all of the recordings on the Dictation Belt, see Digital Identifier: JFKPOF-TPH-30, Title: Telephone recordings: Dictation Belt 30.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-30
Dictation Belt 30 contains two sound recordings from October 22, 1962. Item 30.1 is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and John J. McCloy. President Kennedy asks McCloy to return to the United States from Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to support the handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis at the United Nations (U.N.). The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 30.2 is a recording of three telephone exchanges. The first exchange is a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. They discuss ways to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis and consider possible consequences, including nuclear war and actions taken by the Soviet Union in Berlin, Germany. The recording begins in mid-conversation. The second exchange is chatter involving [White House Operators?]. Machine noise follows. The third exchange is a brief fragment of a telephone conversation between Secretary of State Dean Rusk and an unidentified man. They talk about an impending address to the nation on providing an “effective quarantine” against a threat.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-08B
Dictation Belt 8B contains five sound recordings. The recording of the conversation in item 8B.1 begins on Dictation Belt 8A.4. Item 8B.1 is a telephone conversation held on March 2, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. They continue to discuss a press item about a proposed nuclear naval force and Soviet surveillance of naval vessels. Item 8B.2 is a telephone conversation held on March 2, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy. They discuss reconnaissance flights over Cuba and statements made by Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Item 8B.3 is a sound recording of a telephone conversation held on March 2, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. They discuss reconnaissance flights over Cuba and surveillance of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) naval fleet and merchant ships. Item 8B.4 is a telephone conversation held on March 2, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. They discuss the Stennis Committee’s review of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Item 8B.5 is a telephone conversation held on March 2, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. They discuss the Stennis Committee’s review of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, results of a recent Gallup Poll, and problems for Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York. The recording of the end of the conversation repeats on Dictation Belt 9A.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-08A-4
Sound recording of part of a telephone conversation held on March 2, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. They discuss reconnaissance flights over Cuba and statements attributed to Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona. They also discuss a press item about a proposed nuclear naval force and Soviet surveillance of naval vessels.The recording begins in mid-conversation and ends abruptly. The recording of this conversation continues on Dictation Belt 8B.1.
Transcript included. This sound recording was originally recorded on Dictation Belt 8A, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding this one. To hear all of the recordings on the Dictation Belt, see Digital Identifier: JFKPOF-TPH-08A, Title: Telephone Recordings: Dictation Belt 8A.
Sound recording
White House Audio Collection
JFKWHA-143-004
Sound recording of President John F. Kennedy’s radio and television statement on the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. In his speech President Kennedy indicates that the missile bases are in the dismantlement process, and explains that the naval quarantine on Cuba will remain in effect until the situation is resolved.
Sound recording
White House Audio Collection
JFKWHA-142-001
Sound recording of President John F. Kennedy’s radio and television address to the nation regarding the former Soviet Union’s military presence in Cuba. In his speech President Kennedy reports the establishment of offensive missile sites presumably intended to launch a nuclear offensive against Western nations. The President characterizes the transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base as an explicit threat to American security, and explains seven components to his proposed course of action: quarantine all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba, increase the degree of surveillance, regard a possible attack launched from Cuba as a Soviet attack, reinforce the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, call for a meeting of the Organ of Consultation, call for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, and demand that Premier Nikita Khrushchev cease his current course of action. In his speech the President famously states, “Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right- not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this Hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world.”
Sound recording
White House Audio Collection
JFKWHA-124
Sound recording of the President’s News Conference of August 29, 1962 (News Conference 42). The President begins the press conference by announcing the retirement of Associate Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter for health reasons and the appointment of Secretary of Labor Arthur J. Goldberg to fill the vacancy. He also announces that the Soviet representative in Geneva has proposed a cut-off date of January 1, 1963 for all nuclear weapons testing. The President agrees with the proposed date and urges all affected governments to accelerate negotiations in order to meet the goal. The President then answers questions from the press on a variety of topics including nuclear test agreements, Berlin, the influx of supplies and technicians into Cuba from the Soviet Union, and a scientific investigation into the side effects of pesticides, particularly DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane).
Sound recording
White House Audio Collection
JFKWHA-004
Sound recording of the President's News Conference of January 25, 1961 (News Conference 1). President Kennedy begins the press conference with a statement concerning the scheduling of the Geneva negotiations for a nuclear test ban. He then announces that the United States Government has decided to increase famine relief for the Congo and that the Soviet Union has released two members from the crew of the United States Air Force RB-47 aircraft. Following the announcements the President answers questions from the press on a variety of topics including United States policy on nuclear disarmament negotiations, diplomatic relations with Cuba, and communications with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
Textual folder
Theodore C. Sorensen Personal Papers
TCSPP-049-006
Moving image
United States Government Agencies Collection
USG-01-25-2
Motion picture of President John F. Kennedy's News Conference of January 25, 1961 (News Conference 1). President Kennedy begins the press conference with a statement concerning the scheduling of the Geneva negotiations for a nuclear test ban. He then announces that the United States Government has decided to increase famine relief for the Congo and that the Soviet Union has released two members from the crew of the United States Air Force RB-47 aircraft. Following the announcements the President answers questions from the press on a variety of topics including United States policy on nuclear disarmament negotiations, diplomatic relations with Cuba, and communications with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. This is the second of two versions.This is a recording by the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the White House Army Signal Agency (WHASA).
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-30-A
ST15, KN25
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-23-B
AR28, ST15, KN25
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-22-B
ST15, KN24
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-10-18-D
AR28, ST15, KN24
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1962-11-02-B
KN25