Secret White House Tapes

Meetings: Tape 116/A52. Meeting with Dean Acheson, Meeting on Civil Rights, October 1963: 23-24

About this recording

Meetings: Tape 116/A52. Meeting with Dean Acheson, Meeting on Civil Rights, October 1963: 23-24
Sound recording of three meeting. First is a meeting held on October 23, 1963, between President John F. Kennedy and Presidential Advisor on Foreign Affairs Dean Acheson. For most of the meeting, Acheson discusses the political climate in Europe, especially in Germany. President Kennedy speaks mainly near the end of the meeting.

Next are two brief meetings on civil rights held on October 24, 1963. These consecutive meetings concern the timing of civil rights legislation and discussions with leaders in the House of Representatives on the bill and amendments. Participants include President Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Special Assistant to the President for Congressional Relations Lawrence F. O’Brien, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives John McCormack (Massachusetts), Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, Representative Emanuel Celler (New York), Representative William McCulloch (Ohio), Representative Carl Albert (Oklahoma), Representative Charles Halleck (Indiana), and Representative Leslie Arends (Illinois). Please note that these meetings were opened in 1984 as part of the Kennedy Library’s Civil Rights tape opening. The recording of the second meeting ends abruptly and continues on Tape 117/A53.

This sound recording has been excerpted from Tape 116/A52, which contains additional sound recording(s) preceding this one. See Related Records to access Tape 116/A52 in its entirety or the end of this recording on Tape 117/A53.
Secret White House Tapes |

Meetings: Tape 116/A52. Meeting with Dean Acheson, Meeting on Civil Rights, October 1963: 23-24