President Eisenhower | Oct 28, 1962

click the transcript tab to reveal audio transcript

click to play or stop a conversation

BACK

Attorney General  |  March 2, 1962

click to go to different sets of calls

Help

RFK: Hello. Jack? JFK: Yeah. RFK: The thing, of course, to remember on this . . . I don't know how much you're gonna get into it, but the thing to remember on this . . . is this, uh, what you did on that day, Tuesday, for Wednesday, was something that was added to the plan. JFK: Yeah. Oh, yeah. RFK: And not something that was taken away or was in . . . a plan that was made inadequate by some deficiency in . . . in, uh, withdrawal of something . . . JFK: Yeah. That's right. RFK: That you added that on Tuesday . . . JFK: Yeah. RFK: And it's never been planned before and this . . . plan specifically said this wouldn't be done. JFK: Yeah. RFK: It was something that you added in order to help. JFK: You heard about, uh . . . RFK: But I, you know, if somebody's gonna say something in the Senate about it . . . JFK: Yeah. Well, you know how they are. Make everything look lousy these days. You know, Rowland Evans said that he talked to Dirksen. Dirksen said, “I don't quite get this." He said."[2 words?] . . . What? [laughing] What, you know, just say I don't know, they . . . I think the Kennedys are planning something to trap us into this thing [laughter] 'cause they're pretty smart down there." RFK: Well, that's what we have . . . We haven't figured how to close the trap yet. JFK: Yeah. That's right. We haven't quite figured out . . . RFK: Uh, well, we'll learn it. JFK: It just shows you, boy, what that press is, doesn't it? RFK: But, God. Still, the poll. JFK: What? RFK: What . . . you're down to seventy percent? JFK: When? RFK: Huh? JFK: When was this? RFK: The Gallup Poll. JFK: When was that? RFK: Oh, about two days ago? JFK: No. I didn't see it. RFK: Yeah. It went seventy-six percent to seventy. JFK: Yeah. RFK: But, with your popularity seventy percent now, . . . JFK: Yeah. RFK: . . . you'd break fifty-fifty with a Republican. JFK: What? RFK: Seventy percent . . . Eighteen percent are against you. JFK: Yeah? RFK: Well, I mean, I don't get what the . . . the press must be doing you some good. JFK: Then what, you'd break fifty-fifty? RFK: Do fifty-fifty with a Republican. JFK: Oh, you mean on approval/disapproval? RFK: Yeah. And then the, uh, independents. JFK: I didn't see that poll. Was this in the Post? RFK: I don't know what paper. I read it going up in the plane Wednesday or Thursday. JFK: I see. RFK: You think you got troubles, you ought to see what's happening to Nelson Rockefeller. JFK: Why? What? RFK: Well, you know, all the bars . . . They call every drink a Nelson cocktail ... a Rockefeller cocktail. Everything's the same except it's fifteen percent more. JFK: Do they really? RFK: Oh, and all . . . You walk along the streets, and out in the front . . . JFK: Yeah. RFK: . . . it says, “Come in and buy a Nelson . . . a Rockefeller cocktail.” Everything costs fifteen percent more. In every bar. How would you like that following you around?

March 2, 1962

Attorney General

Director of the Peace Corps | Apr 2, 1963

Director of the Peace Corps

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

President Truman | July 24, 1963

NASA Astronaut

Secretary of Defense

Deputy Secretary of Defense  |  Oct 23, 1962

Special Assistant to the President | March 22, 1963

click to play a featured conversation

The President’s Desk  ➤  Telephone

Secretary of Defense  |  April 2, 1963

Governor Ross Barnett | Sept 28, 1962

Telephone

>

Senator Edward M. Kennedy  |  Mar 7, 1963

This experience is best viewed in widescreen format

click the overview tab to reveal call summaries

Beginning in 1939 and ending with the Nixon administration in 1974, taping systems have played an intriguing role in U.S. presidential history. John F. Kennedy was the first president to extensively record both his meetings and telephone conversations. In all, President Kennedy selectively recorded over twelve hours of telephone conversations using a Dictaphone system. These recordings capture discussions on many sensitive domestic and foreign policy matters. The system was a closely-held secret. Most of President Kennedy’s top aides were unaware of the system until its existence became known during the U. S. Senate hearings on Watergate in 1973.

Please widen or shorten your browser window

Congratulatory Call to NASA Astronaut  |  May 16, 1963

click to pause a conversation

The President's Phone Calls

Attorney General | March 2, 1962