Robert McGee Oral History
Object number2022.001.0023
Date04/07/2022
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
Robert McGee
Oral history interviewer
Stephen Fagin
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumBorn digital (.m4a file), Born digital (.mp4 file), Born digital (.vtt file)
DimensionsDuration: 75 Minutes
Terms
- Interviews
- Oral histories
- Memorial services
- Rotunda
- Childhood
- Assassination
- Space program
- Kennedy, John F.
- Johnson, Lyndon B.
- Bethesda Naval Hospital
- U.S. Capitol
- Washington, D.C.
- Democratic National Convention
- Childhood Recollections (OHC)
- 1960 Campaign (OHC)
- Kennedy Family Acquaintances (OHC)
- Kennedy Funeral (OHC)
- Space Program (OHC)
- Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Robert McGee. McGee is the son of the late U.S. Senator Gale McGee of Wyoming (1959-77), who was friends with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and played a key role in securing the nomination for Kennedy at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. A teenager at the time, Robert McGee met Kennedy on several occasions, including as a Senate page in 1960. He drove to Bethesda Naval Medical Center on the night of the assassination and was with his family for the memorial service in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Sunday, November 24, 1963.
Interview conducted over Zoom on April 7, 2022 by Curator Stephen Fagin. The interview is 1 hour and 15 minutes long.
Curatorial CommentaryThe official congressional biography of Senator Gale W. McGee, as well as a complete list of the legislation he sponsored or co-sponsored between 1959 and 1977, may be found here at the Library of Congress: Gale W. McGee | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
After reviewing this oral history, Mr. McGee wanted to correct the Kennedy quote that he recited from memory during the interview. At President Kennedy's inauguration on January 20, 1961, he said, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." -- Stephen Fagin, Curator
