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Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-LCH-01
In this interview Heinz discusses how he came to work in the Office of International Security Affairs [ISA] in the Department of Defense [DOD]; the changeover in the DOD between the Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy Administrations; Heinz’s view of the Bay of Pigs; the regular operations and organization within ISA, including the different regional desks’ responsibilities; relationships between the ISA and other agencies; ISA as “the little State Department”; differences of opinion between DOD and the State Department, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the debate over whether to put troops in Laos; Robert S. McNamara and Roswell L. Gilpatric; the status of Okinawa; the question of U.S. defense perimeters; and W. Averell Harriman’s trip to Geneva and the neutralization solution for Laos, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-PTH-03
In this interview Hart discusses Ellsworth Bunker’s mission in Saudi Arabia; meetings between Bunker and Prime Minister Faisal; Faisal’s distrust of Gamal Abdel Nasser and Egyptian inaction in regards to the agreement reached with Bunker; difficulties with the U.S. Department of Defense over the agreement to train Saudi pilots and use American military equipment; major problems in the Middle East, 1957–1967; communications between John F. Kennedy [JFK] and Faisal; and Saudi reactions to JFK’s death and to Lyndon B. Johnson becoming President, among other issues.
Textual folder
United States General Services Administration Records
USGSA-MF15-004
This folder contains two items related to an Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Defense to assist in mitigating unemployment and economic problems caused by the closure of military installations.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-GWA-01
Anderson discusses the Cuban Missile Crisis, controversy over government contract for the TFK military airplane, conflicts between civilian and military personnel in Defense Department, and Robert S. McNamara and John F.Kennedy's decision not to reappoint Anderson.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ARB-01
Burke discusses his frustrations with the Kennedy administration, including Robert S. McNamara’s changes to the Department of Defense, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, general lack of respect for procedures and lessons from the past, and censoring of a speech that Burke was to give in January 1961, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-05
Brown discusses the U.S. and Soviet Union’s nuclear testing, the debate within the Kennedy Administration over whether to have atmospheric or underground testing, and negotiations leading to the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-04
Brown discusses the TFX (tactical fighter experimental) airplane, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and testifying before Congress, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-03
Brown discusses antiballistic missile programs, nuclear-armed aircraft, defense department appropriations, and radar systems, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-02
Brown discusses his job description; the factors that went into his, Robert S. McNamara’s, and John F. Kennedy’s decision making about whether or not a particular weapons system should be developed, and the Nike Zeus and Nike X missile systems, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-HAB-01
Brown discusses atmospheric nuclear testing by the U.S. and Soviet Union; overstatement of the nuclear threat from the Soviet Union during the Eisenhower administration, various missile systems; and the capabilities of the U.S.’ nuclear weapons, among other issues.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-ROWK-06
In this interview Komer discusses U.S. aid to India and Pakistan and some problems involved with it, including the question of long-term U.S. aid and a shift in focus from Pakistan to India; problems with the Agency for International Development; oil and U.S. policy; U.S. involvement in the Congo; Komer’s meetings with President John F. Kennedy [JFK] and how Komer briefed him; the relations among JFK, Dean Rusk, John Kenneth Galbraith, Adlai E. Stevenson, and McGeorge Bundy; JFK’s interest in India and Pakistan and his attempt at a mediation between the two on Kashmir; and JFK and Algeria and Morocco, among other issues.
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-ROWK-03
In this interview Komer discusses negotiating disengagement with Gamal Abdel Nasser and Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia; John F. Kennedy’s [JFK] involvement in the Yemen crisis and the negotiations with Nasser and Faisal; U.S. New Guinea policy and the Dutch-Indonesian conflict; JFK and counterinsurgency; Komer and police programs as part of U.S. counterinsurgency efforts; JFK’s policy towards and involvement with India and Pakistan; U.S. military assistance to India, 1962; and U.S. missions to Pakistan and India, 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-ACE-01
Enthoven discusses his impressions of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and his work applying systems analysis to Defense Department problems, among other issues.
Sound recording
Edward M. Kennedy Senate Files
EMKSEN-AU0008-005-010
Sound recording of the radio program "Face Off." Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Alan K. "Al" Simpson of Wyoming debate a provision in the annual defense bill to double the Department of Defense's child-care budget for parents in the U.S. armed forces. The episode aired on Friday, July 28, 1989, on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
Sound recording
Edward M. Kennedy Senate Files
EMKSEN-AU0008-005-005
Sound recording of the radio program "Face Off." Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Alan K. "Al" Simpson of Wyoming debate Secretary of Defense Richard B. "Dick" Cheney's efforts to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and fraud in the Pentagon's weapons procurement systems. The episode aired on Friday, July 21, 1989, on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-PHN-02
This interview focuses on a report Nitze wrote on nuclear weaponry and the Kennedy administration’s change in policy concerning nuclear weapons and defense strategies, among other topics.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-PHN-01
This interview focuses on Nitze’s time on the National Security Policy Committee, the workings of the Department of Defense, and the Kennedy administration’s approach to nuclear weapons, among other topics.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-RSM-01
McNamara discusses the defense budget and military strategy during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, the recruitment of Defense Department staff, his appointment as Secretary of Defense, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-CPR-01
This interview focuses on the 1960 Democratic primary in Wisconsin, the internal operations of the Defense Department under Robert S. McNamara, and the relations between the military and the Defense Department, among other topics.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JKR-01
In this interview Ruina discusses the Nike-Zeus antiballistic-missile-missiles; briefing President John F. Kennedy [JFK] on the Nike-Zeus missiles; JFK’s comprehension of the briefing material and the type of questions he asked; Project Defender; the background and organization of the Advanced Research Projects Agency; the leadership and organization of the Department of Defense; interactions with Robert S. McNamara; competition between the military and the Defense Department on research and development and for resources and congressional funds; the period of new, advanced—but not always useful—technology; and Project AGILE and counterinsurgency efforts in Vietnam, among other issues.
Sound recording
Edward M. Kennedy Senate Files
EMKSEN-AU0008-014-007
Sound recording of the radio program "Face Off." Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Alan K. "Al" Simpson of Wyoming debate the plans of Secretary of Defense Richard B. "Dick" Cheney to cut the U.S. defense budget. The episode aired on Monday, February 12, 1990, on the Mutual Broadcasting System.