The Presidential Recordings: John F. Kennedy: Volumes 1-3, The Great Crises

WW Norton Presidential Recordings

by Ernest R. May, Timothy Naftali (Editor), Philip D. Zelikow (Editor)

The most remarkable window that Americans have ever had into how their country is governed. These volumes provide a unique glimpse into the real workings of the Kennedy White House, presenting perhaps the most reliable record of the Kennedy presidency ever published. In the summer of 1962, President John F. Kennedy installed a secret taping system in the White House. His aim was to record meetings and conversations he considered important, probably intending to use them when he wrote the memoir of his years in office, a book he never had the chance to write. The tapes are now being authoritatively transcribed, and those for the period from the installation of the tape system through October 28, 1962 (the end of the Cuban missile crisis), are presented here in their entirety. Texts with CD-ROM

1536 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Ernest Richard May was an American historian of international relations whose 14 published books include analyses of American involvement in World War I and the causes of the fall of France during World War II. His 1997 book The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis became the primary sources of the 2000 film Thirteen Days that viewed the crisis from the perspective of American political leaders. He served on the 9/11 Commission and highlighted the failures of the government intelligence agencies. May taught full time on the faculty of Harvard University for 55 years, until his death.

Reviews

[Alan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding three-volume edition of primary-source material regarding the administration of President John F. Kennedy from July 28 to October 28, 1962. It consists of transcripts of secret recordings that President John F. Kennedy made of his telephone calls and meetings (mostly in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room) in the White House.

I have just now finished reading all the transcripts and editorial discussions regarding the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis (volume 2, pages 391–614, and volume 3, pages 3–525). This work offers a fly-on-the-wall perspective of history in the making, as President Kennedy and his advisers deliberated upon and formulated responses to the Soviet Union’s installation of nuclear missile bases in Cuba. This primary source is the principal reference for chapter 5 (“Political Leadership in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis”) of my book Reason and Human Government, which will be published within the next few weeks.

All, or almost all, of President Kennedy’s interlocutors in these proceedings did not know that Kennedy was recording their communications. These recordings, and the transcripts made from them, were not available to the public until decades later. As a result of Watergate, Congress later enacted a prohibition on such secret recordings, which became famous when President Richard Nixon’s secret recordings were made public, leading to his resignation from that office under threat of impeachment and removal from office.

Alan E. Johnson
Independent Philosopher, Historian, Political Scientist, and Legal Scholar
December 11, 2025