Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963

The superpower rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was central to the foreign policy of the administration of President Kennedy, and the editors of the Foreign Relations series have recognized that centrality in the 25 volumes presenting the official record of U.S. foreign policy during the Kennedy years. The threat of Soviet expansion and subversion of areas and relationships vital to the security interests and well-being of the United States was the preeminent concern of the President and U.S. foreign policymakers. The perceived need to counter aggressive Soviet communism around the world dominated American foreign policy and dwarfed other issues.

The Foreign Relations subseries for the Kennedy years, 1961-1963, therefore seeks to reflect the emphatic preoccupation of policymakers with U.S.-Soviet relations around the globe, while retaining much of the geographical-topical structure of the series carried over from subseries of volumes documenting how the Eisenhower, Truman, and Roosevelt presidencies managed relations with the USSR.

Other related products:

Russia and Soviet Union resources collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/international-foreign-affairs/russia-soviet-union

Other print volumes in the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) primary source, historical series can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/international-foreign-affairs/foreign-relations-united-states-series-frus

Foreign Country Study backgrounds can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/international-foreign-affairs/foreign-country-studies