Interview with John Sherman Cooper, June 20, 1980

Interview Summary

Cooper begins the interview by discussing his close relationship with John F. Kennedy. Cooper talks of how they worked together in the Senate on the Labor Committee and on foreign aid policies. After President Kennedy's assassination, Cooper was asked to be on the Warren Commission by President Johnson. Cooper still stood by the findings of the Commission: that Oswald was the sole assassin and that there was no conspiracy. Cooper explains his reservations and regrets regarding the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. On the Foreign Relations Committee, Cooper remembers talking to many scientists about developing an anti-ballistic missile system. Ultimately, along with other senators, Cooper, Nixon and Kissinger finally determined that this plan sounded good but would not work. The interviewee then explains his positions on civil rights. To conclude the interview, Cooper reveals his proudest moment in the Senate.

Interview Keyword

Anatoly Dobrynin Dwight D. Eisenhower Henry Kissinger Lee Harvey Oswald Richard Nixon Christian Herter Douglas Dillon Senate Foreign Relations Committee Governor John Connolly Hale Boggs John Stennis Warren Commission Labor Committee (1953-1954) Mike Mansfield Paul Douglas Lyndon Johnson John F. Kennedy Alben Barkley Philip Hart Spessard Holland Richard Russell Kenneth Keating Warren Commission World Bank Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Anti-ballistic missle system U.S. Senate

Interview LC Subject

Cooper, John Sherman, 1901-1991 Cooper, John Sherman, 1901-1991--Interviews Politicians Politicians--United States Politics and government United States--Politics and government World Bank Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Cambodia Missiles Nuclear weapons Weapons of mass destruction Civil rights African Americans Civil rights movement Laos Kentucky Vietnam

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.