1960s Timeline

June 17, 1962 - One result of the prison break last Monday at Alcatraz has been the renewal of the Justice Department’s interest in closing down the Federal prison on “The Rock,” as the tiny island north of San Francisco is sometimes called. This is a political as much as an administrative question for Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and James V. Bennett, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Mr. Kennedy said today, “I think we’d be inclined to close it.” In the inves

June 14, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy urged American labor unions today to take a more vigorous part in telling this country’s democratic story abroad. “This job,” he said, “cannot be done by the Federal Government; it must be done by people like you.” He spoke to 500 delegates and guests attending the 11th convention of the United Hatters, Cap, and Millinery Workers Union at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in New York. Mr. Kennedy remained long enough to hear Alex Rose

June 12, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy called on the American people today to face the “unusual and heavy burdens” of the present with sound judgment rather than emotion. Speaking at the 111th commencement exercises of Manhattan College, Mr. Kennedy said that in the last analysis the choice before the people was “to make either educated judgments or decisions based on emotion and slogan.” “The first course,” he asserted, “is complicated and sometimes frustrating,

June 8, 1962 - President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy honor Gerald Lee Davis, 12, for saving his brothers from a house fire. #JFK #1960s #youth #RFK #heroes #courage

Retro news capsule with vintage commercials. Click here to listen: https://bit.ly/3zqAgFd Headlines: President Kennedy issues a pardon; the Surgeon General forms a committee; Richard Nixon wins an election; the Viet Cong take prisoners; an ex-Marine comes home; Marilyn Monroe is fired. #JFK #RFK #marilynmonroe #history #politics #1960s

June 8, 1962 - President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy honor Mary Ann Kingry for her exceptional career of service in the Junior Red Cross. #JFK #1960s #youth #redcross #RFK

May 26, 1962 - More than 100 children jammed Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s office today for a puppet and magic show, then adjourned to the Justice Building’s courtyard for a cookout. The youthful crowd was composed of Congressmens’ sons and daughters ranging in age from 5 to 9. They toured the offices and laboratories of the F.B.I. before being greeted by the Attorney General and Mrs. Ethel Kennedy (pictured with their seven children in February). Headed by the Kennedy

May 25, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy received two awards in New York City yesterday. In the afternoon, he was given the fourth annual Labor Award of the Samuel Gompers Vocational and Technical High School in the Bronx and inducted into the Gompers Labor Hall of Fame. At the presentation ceremony in the school auditorium, Mr. Kennedy said that in his recent world tour the major interest of students he met was in civil rights in this country. He asserted that under

May 10, 1962 - J. Edgar Hoover finished his 38th year as Director of the FBI today, adding to what President Kennedy called “one of the most unusual and distinguished records in the history of government service.” The tribute, in a letter from the President, was one of many paid to the FBI director by city, state, and national officials as he passed another milestone in his long career. Aides said Mr. Hoover, 67, followed his custom of treating the anniversary like any other

May 5, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy urged today that the nation put as much emphasis on the advancement of civil rights at home as it does on the race for superiority in space and nuclear weapons. He also stressed the need for legislation to support civil rights. “We want and must always want a world of free men,” Mr. Kennedy said. “But if we are to be leaders in this struggle for freedom, we must achieve a full measure of freedom and social progress for all Amer

Apr. 16, 1962 - A Senate Judiciary subcommittee approved today President Kennedy’s nomination of Nicholas Katzenbach as Deputy Attorney General. He would succeed Byron R. White, who was sworn in today as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Katzenbach is now an assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. As Deputy Attorney General, he would be the No. 1 aide of Attorney General Kennedy. There was no opposition to Mr

Apr. 12, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy announced tonight he had ordered a grand jury investigation of the price increases announced by leading steel companies. Evidence will be presented to one of the grand juries now sitting in New York. This move under the Sherman Antitrust Act was one of several decisions that apparently came out of an all-day series of intensive conferences at the White House. Tomorrow, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara is expected to is

Apr. 10, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said that literacy and similar tests were now the principal device used to keep Negroes from voting in the South. He called for prompt action on the Administration’s bill to curb the misuse of such tests. The measure would bar states from denying the right to vote to any person with a sixth-grade education on the ground that he had allegedly failed a literacy or similar test. The Attorney General appeared before the Senate su

Mar. 5, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said facetiously last night that any future comments he might make about Texas would be cleared with Vice President Johnson, on orders of President Kennedy. In answering a question in Jakarta, the Attorney General indicated that he did not think the war with Mexico was a very bright page in the history of the U.S. This touched off an uproar, especially in Texas. The President’s brother was asked last night on “Update,” an NBC-

Feb. 28, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (pictured at Idlewild Airport) returned from his month’s tour around the world today and said he was “encouraged” by the prospects for freedom. Mr. Kennedy, who was accompanied on the trip by his wife, Ethel, said he found much misunderstanding of what was happening in the United States. He said that too many people do not understand the social reforms that have occurred here — Social Security, for example. They have a Commun

Feb. 27, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy spent 40 minutes with President de Gaulle in Paris today. Mr. Kennedy said later it was “a good talk.” Neither Mr. Kennedy nor President de Gaulle disclosed the subjects they discussed, but it was more than probable that among them were the approaching cease-fire in the Algerian war and the French premier’s belief that the time is not ripe for fruitful East-West negotiations. The Attorney General, at the end of a worldwide to

Feb. 21, 1962 - President Kennedy suggested today that the world trip by his brother Robert had been worthwhile because it had helped make foreign students recognize the failures of communism. Robert F. Kennedy, the Attorney General, arrived in Rome yesterday near the end of a four-week goodwill trip that has included spirited debates with university groups in Japan and Indonesia. President Kennedy said at his news conference today that one of the nation’s most serious,

Feb. 26, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy is approaching the end of his month-long goodwill tour. Today, he arrived in Paris and held a brief press conference at the airport. He will meet with President de Gaulle tomorrow. #RFK #JFK #1960s #history #podcast #OTD #paris #france

Feb. 25, 1962 - The travels of the Kennedy brothers resulted in a violent denunciation from Moscow today. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, youngest brother of the President, were assailed by Pravda, the Communist party newspaper, for what were described as “cold war” activities in Berlin. The Pravda attack on the Kennedy brothers reflected Soviet uneasiness over the warm and emotional welcome given to the Attorney General Wednesday and Thursday by Wes

Feb. 24, 1962 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (pictured with Mayor Willy Brandt of West Berlin) predicted today that Eastern Europe would be liberated from communism because “the wave of the future is with us.” “We are the new revolution,” Mr. Kennedy told members of the German Foreign Policy Society in Bonn. “We have the truth on our side. If we have the courage, we are going to win.” Later, the Attorney General and his younger brother, Edward M. Kennedy visited an East