Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
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.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-11-25-C
ST34, KN40
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-CEB-01
Bohlen discusses John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) views of the Soviet Union; foreign relations crises during the Kennedy administration, including the Bay of Pigs, war in Laos, and Cuban Missile Crisis; and Bohlen’s assessment of JFK as a president and a man.
Sound recording
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-TPH-11A
Dictation Belt 11A contains six sound recordings. Item 11A.1 is a telephone conversation held on March 6, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Under Secretary of State George W. Ball. They discuss the cancellation of a visit by a French official. Machine noise precedes the conversation. [White House Operator?] speaks to Under Secretary Ball while he holds for President Kennedy. Item 11A.2 is a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and United States Army General Chester V. Clifton. They discuss the issue of participation of Arkansas National Guard fliers in the Bay of Pigs invasion. The recording begins in mid-conversation. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 11A.3 is a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Adrian S. Fisher. They discuss responding to a statement by Senator Thomas J. Dodd of Connecticut. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 11A.4 is a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Under Secretary of State George W. Ball. They discuss international trade issues involving the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. The trade issues involve wool, oil, and a pipe embargo. The dictation belt skips occasionally. Item 11A.5 is a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Deputy Attorney General Nicholas deB. Katzenbach. They discuss civil rights issues in Mississippi and Louisiana and briefly discuss Interhandel. The recording begins in mid-conversation. [White House Operator?] ends the call. Machine noise follows the conversation. Item 11A.6 is part of a telephone conversation held on March 7, 1963. First an unidentified man notifies President Kennedy of the death of Thomas J. Shanahan. Then the unidentified man gives Personal Secretary Evelyn Lincoln additional information regarding Shanahan. The recording of this conversation ends abruptly and continues on Dictation Belt 11B.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.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-097-008
This folder contains Department of State telegrams regarding the United States, Soviet Union, and Berlin. Topics include air corridor violations; guidelines for assisting East German refugees injured at the Berlin Wall; meetings between the Berlin Commandants for the United States, Great Britain, and France; and the use of armored vehicles (APCs) in the transport of Soviet guards to the war memorial in West Berlin.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-213-002
This folder contains memoranda and reports regarding European countries. Topics include United States policies in Europe; relations between France and the Soviet Union; French President Charles de Gaulle and resistance to Great Britain’s entry into the Common Market (also known as the European Economic Community); and a cost estimate of the U.S. partnership with Europe in the areas of military expenditures, foreign aid, and trade. Also included in this folder are memoranda by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) titled, “Franco-Soviet Discussions and Negotiations,” and United States Information Agency (USIA) Research and Reference Service reports titled, “Reactions to European Situation.”
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-059-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Kathleen Kennedy, documents her life during the years 1935 to 1937, when she spent time abroad attending the Holy Child School in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and traveling with friends through Europe. Ephemera pasted into the scrapbook include dance and ball cards and tickets for events at Trinity College and Jesus College of the University of Cambridge in England; programs for rowing, lawn tennis, and ice hockey competitions at the University of Cambridge and a skiing event in Gstaad, Switzerland; periodical and newspaper clippings; embroidered cloth patches from the Royal Military College of Canada; and a Catholic devotional scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Telegrams are from Kathleen's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.; mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; brothers, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., and John F. Kennedy; aunt, Mary Loretta Kennedy Connelly; and friends, Derek Richardson, Frederick Sinclair “Freddy” Carson, Elizabeth “Betty” Rice, and Mary Veronica “Von” Rice. The scrapbook also contains photographic postcards, photographs of Kathleen with Derek Richardson and Freddy Carson, itineraries, maps, visitor pamphlets, train schedules, and menus from her travels to Venice, Florence, and Rome, Italy; Paris and Reims, France; and Moscow, Russia. This scrapbook contains 72 pieces of printed and three-dimensional ephemera and 19 photographic postcards.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-058-001
This photograph album, compiled by Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, documents her life during the years 1935 to 1937, when she spent time abroad attending the Holy Child School in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and traveling with family and friends before returning to the United States to complete her education at the Noroton School of the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Noroton Heights, Connecticut. The stamped title on the cover reads, “Pictures.” Photographs capture her time spent in Gstaad, Switzerland, for the 1935 Christmas holiday; sightseeing in Paris, France; a tour of Italy with friends from March to April 1936; a trip to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and Moscow, Russia, with her mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, in May 1936; a visit to England with friends in June 1936; sailing on Cape Cod in the summer of 1936; Christmas in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1936; and a trip to Ireland and Scotland with her brother, Joseph P. "Joe" Kennedy, Jr., in August 1937. Also included are numerous photographs of Kathleen and her classmates at both the Holy Child School and the Noroton School. Of note are photographs of Prime Minister of Italy, Benito Mussolini; Nazi soldiers marching in Berlin, Germany; Michelangelo’s David statue at its original location in Florence, Italy; Mt. Vesuvius and the ruins at Pompeii, Italy; and Kathleen kissing the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle in Ireland. Other Kennedy family members, friends, and classmates of Kathleen’s pictured include Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.; John F. Kennedy; Rosemary Kennedy; Eunice Kennedy; Patricia Kennedy; Robert F. Kennedy; Jean Kennedy; Edward M. Kennedy; Alexander William Guy “Alex” de Pourtales; Eleanor “Ellie” Hoguet; Derek Richardson; Frederick Sinclair “Freddy” Carson; Lawrence “Larry” Wilkinson; Anne McDonnell; Charlotte McDonnell; Torbert “Torb” Macdonald; Sir James Calder; Lady Mildred Calder; Jim McColl; Kirk LeMoyne “Lem” Billings; Ralph “Rip” Horton; Elizabeth “Betty” Rice; Mary Veronica “Von” Rice; Sonio Coletti-Petrucca; Allison Garver; and Edith Garver. This photograph album contains 331 photographic prints.
Textual folder
Kennedy Family Collection
KFC-054-001
This scrapbook, compiled by Joseph P. “Joe” Kennedy, Jr., documents his education, travels, and family life between 1932 and 1938. The title on the cover reads, “Album.” The scrapbook contains photographs of and printed ephemera related to his studies at the London School of Economics (1933-1934) and Harvard University (1934-1938), as well as time spent with family and friends at the Kennedy family residences in Bronxville in New York, Palm Beach in Florida, and Hyannis Port in Massachusetts, and traveling in Europe. Destinations pictured include Switzerland, England, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Scotland, Russia, Ukraine, Austria, Bermuda, Georgia, and France. Of note are telegrams from Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy to their son; photographs of Joe, Jr., skiing with friends in Zermatt, Switzerland; two portrait cards from the Residenz Museum in Munich, Germany; photographic postcards featuring images of the 1934 performance of the Oberammergau Passion Play in Bavaria, Germany; an invitation from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to Joe, Jr., for an event at the White House; materials related to Joe, Jr.’s athletic career at Harvard, where he participated in football, swimming, and rugby, including photographs of the 1936 Bermuda Rugby Week competition; a Bermuda Islands court summons issued to “Joseph Kennedy” and dated March 30, 1936; and telegrams sent to Joe, Jr., for his birthday. Kennedy family members and friends pictured in photographs and clippings include Joseph, Sr.; Rose; John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald; John F. Kennedy; Rosemary Kennedy; Kathleen Kennedy; Eunice Kennedy; Patricia Kennedy; Robert F. Kennedy; Jean Kennedy; Edward M. Kennedy; Kirk LeMoyne “Lem” Billings; nanny to the Kennedy children, Katherine Conboy; Edward E. Moore and Mary Moore; Sir James Calder; and economist Harold Laski. Handwritten captions and inscriptions are written in blue and black ink on many of the leaves. This scrapbook contains 224 photographic prints (including three tintypes), 53 newspaper and magazine clippings, and 36 photographic postcards, as well as telegrams, letters, invitations, menus, tickets, picture postcards, calling cards, and other types of printed ephemera.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-322-021
This folder contains memoranda from Henry Owen, National Security Council Assistant for East-West Negotiations and Berlin, to various persons regarding matters of foreign affairs including Berlin and the Soviet Union; relations with France; and MRBMs (medium range ballistic missiles).
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-316-006
This folder contains background memoranda, summaries, and Record of Actions for National Security Council (NSC) Executive Committee meetings. Topics include Soviet Union military forces and equipment in Cuba; United States policy towards Cuba within the OAS (Organization of American States); U.S. policy towards Europe, particularly France; and discussion of a multilateral nuclear force in Europe and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-318-006
This folder contains memoranda and indexes of materials compiled for President John F. Kennedy’s weekend reading. Topics include various matters regarding Cuba, the Soviet Union, France and President Charles de Gaulle, Germany, nuclear weapons and the test ban treaty, and Pakistan.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-318-004
This folder contains memoranda and indexes of materials compiled for President John F. Kennedy’s weekend reading. Topics include various matters regarding Cuba, France, Vietnam, Germany, and the Soviet Union.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-318-003
This folder contains memoranda and indexes of materials compiled for President John F. Kennedy’s weekend reading. Topics include various matters regarding Cuba, United States policy towards Middle Eastern countries, Communist China, disarmament, France, Berlin, and the Soviet Union.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-317-026
This folder contains a draft of the test ban treaty and summaries of meetings regarding the test ban treaty negotiations between the United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain; potential French reaction to the treaty; and instructions for Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs W. Averell Harriman in his communication with members of the Russian delegation.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-317-025
This folder contains a draft of a letter from President John F. Kennedy to President of France Charles de Gaulle regarding test ban treaty negotiations between the United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain. Also included in this folder is a summary of a meeting discussing the test ban treaty, revisions to the letter to President de Gaulle, and potential French reaction to the treaty.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-317-012
This folder contains summaries of meetings with President John F. Kennedy discussing the potential creation of a multilateral nuclear force and European interest, particularly Germany and France. Also included in this folder is a paper by the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) regarding the recommended United States position on a nuclear test ban treaty in preparation for negotiations with the Soviet Union in Geneva.
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. National Security Files
JFKNSF-321-008
This folder contains memoranda from David Klein, National Security Council Assistant for Europe and Canada, to McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Topics include French military and nuclear policies; procedures for the harassment of U.S. military convoys by Soviet troops on the autobahn; travel requirements for East German residents; and negotiations between the U.S. and Soviet Union on German reunification, Berlin, and nuclear energy.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-312-001
This folder contains cable telegrams from Adlai Stevenson, United States Ambassador to the United Nations (UN); Thomas K. Finlettter, U.S. Ambassador to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization); George Ball, Under Secretary of State; and other officials concerning activities, operations, and issues of the UN and NATO. Topics include the Soviet Union; the appointment of an interim UN Secretary-General; economic development for the UN; colonialism; the 16th session of the UN General Assembly; and talks between the United States, United Kingdom, and France on UN matters.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-436-006
This folder contains correspondence and memoranda regarding the Middle East including United States policy, French influence, objectives of the Soviet Union, and the potential for a political or military crisis in the region. Also included in this folder is a report by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) entitled, “Persian Gulf: Western Interests vs. Arab Nationalism.”
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-116a-006
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning France. Materials pertain to EEC (European Economic Community) negotiations, a nuclear test ban treaty, a meeting between President Kennedy and French Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville, and French foreign policy. Of note is a letter from Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev to President of France Charles de Gaulle regarding a France-West Germany treaty of cooperation, and a memorandum to President Kennedy from Special Assistant Arthur M. Schlesinger titled, “De Gaulle.” This folder contains some foreign language material.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-116a-004
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning France. Materials consist of background information for talks between President Kennedy and President of France Charles de Gaulle. Of note are memoranda of conversations regarding the discussions between President Kennedy and De Gaulle.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-116a-003
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning France. Materials consist of background information for talks between President Kennedy and President of France Charles de Gaulle. Of note are memoranda regarding conversations dated September 2, 1959-May 18, 1960 between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and De Gaulle.
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-116a-002
This folder contains material collected by the office of President John F. Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning France. Materials concern discussions between President Kennedy, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko; and a meeting between President Kennedy and Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna, Austria. Also included in this folder is correspondence between President Kennedy and President of France Charles de Gaulle regarding Berlin and disarmament. This folder contains some foreign language material.