Interview with David Powers, 1986

Item Information

Title:
Interview with David Powers, 1986
Description:
David Powers was the Special Assistant and Assistant Appointments Secretary to President Kennedy. In the interview he describes Kennedy throughout the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. He starts by depicting the President and his brother, Robert, after the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, noting the significance of the failure so early in Kennedy's term and its effect on his handling of the later crisis. He goes on to talk about the day-to-day happenings during the missile crisis, during which Kennedy was campaigning for mid-term election candidates. He recounts multiple personal interactions with the President during those 13 days, and recalls memorable comments the President made to him. Mr. Powers found particularly notable Kennedy's utter lack of fear of death, following his experiences in World War II, and his overriding concern for the fate of children during the crisis. He describes the resolution of the crisis, and the positive effect it had on Kennedy. He also depicts the relationship between Kennedy and Khrushchev, and notes that the president's proudest accomplishment was signing the Nuclear Test Ban treaty.
Interviewee:
Powers, David F. (David Francis), 1912-
Date:
February 28, 1986
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
WGBH Open Vault
Series:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)
Nuclear weapons
United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Political campaigns
Sorensen, Theodore C.
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
LeMay, Curtis E.
Bundy, McGeorge
Photographic interpretation
Photographic reconnaissance systems
Soviet Union
United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff
Salinger, Pierre
Harlech, David Ormsby-Gore, baron, 1918-
Capehart, Homer E. (Homer Earl), 1897-1979
Burke, Arleigh A., 1901-1996
Dobrynin, Anatoly, 1919-2010
Dulles, Allen, 1893-1969
Gromyko, Andrei Andreevich, 1909-1989
Castro, Fidel, 1926-
Macmillan, Harold, 1894-1986
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Keating, Kenneth B. (Kenneth Barnard), 1900-1975
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971
Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994
Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994
Anderson, George Whelan, 1906-1992
Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968
Taylor, Maxwell D. (Maxwell Davenport), 1901-1987
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009
O’Donnell, Kenneth P., 1924-1977
Places:
Massachusetts > Middlesex (county) > Cambridge
Cuba
Extent:
00:55:57:05
Link to Item:
https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_8946E771A345459DA076BD20131B96CB
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation
Identifier:
V_8946E771A345459DA076BD20131B96CB