President Kennedy recorded more than 260 hours of his life in the White House, unbeknownst to even his top aides. Now the Kennedy library has released the final 45 hours of the archives, providing a rare window into Kennedyâs life in the three months before his assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. The Daily Beast rounds up the most interesting excerpts.
1. Fretting Over Income Inequality
In a conversation with aides that could come straight out of a modern White House, Kennedy worries about income inequality and the difficulty of appealing to young voters. âWhat is it we have to sell them?â Kennedy asks an aide in November 1963. âWe hope we have to sell them prosperity, but for the average guy the prosperity is nil. Heâs not unprosperous but heâs not very prosperous; heâs not going to make out well off. And the people who really are well off hate our guts.â
2. On the Washington Bubble
Even 50 years ago the president worried over the disconnect between Washington, D.C., and the rest of the nation. âWeâve got so mechanical an operation here in Washington that it doesnât have much identity where these people are concerned,â he told aides.
3. âColor Is So Damn Goodâ
Kennedy worried about the details in his political campaign as well. Discussing the 1964 convention, he said he wanted videos to be in color. âShould they be made in color?â he asked. âTheyâd come over the television in black and white. I donât know if maybe theyâd come over the NBC one in color. Probably a million watching it in color and it would have an effect. I donât know how much more expensive it is. Be quite an effect on the convention. The color is so damn good. If you do it right.â

4. Frustration Over Vietnam
During a meeting in September 1963, Kennedy vented his frustration with conflicting reports about the civil war in Vietnam. Gen. Victor Krulak was optimistic while State Department adviser Joseph Mendenhallâwho had been on the same fact-finding missionâsaid there was widespread military and social discontent.
âYou both went to the same country?â Kennedy asked.
The officials laughed nervously.
âI mean how is that you get such differentâthis is not a new thing, this is what weâve been dealing with for three weeks. On the one hand you get the military saying the war is going better and on the other hand you get the political (opinion) with its deterioration is affecting the military ⌠What is the reason for the differenceâIâd like to have an explanation what the reason is for the difference.â
5. Flirting With War in Cuba
In November 1963 Robert McNamara tells Kennedy about a conversation he had with Adm. Hyman Rickover regarding Adm. George Anderson, who was chief of naval operations in charge of the U.S. quarantine of Cuba during the missile crisis. It's a little gossipy, but it indicates how close the situation came to all-out war.
âI talked to Rickover in connected with this nuclear carrier, and while we were discussing it he said, âYou know that Anderson was absolutely insubordinate during the Cuban Crisis. He consciously acted contrary to the President's instructions.â I just thought you'd be interested,â McNamara tells Kennedy.
âI wonder what he means.â says Kennedy.
âWell I didn't want to probe too much, I didnât want to have a discussion but, I just wasâhe was objecting,â says McNamara.
âHe wanted to sink a ship,â Kennedy replies.
âHe wanted to sink a ship. Thatâs right.â
6. A Foreboding Moment
In an eerie coincidence, a tape from the day before Kennedy left for Dallas records him trying to schedule a meeting with Gen. Abdul Nasution of Indonesia for the following Monday, which would be his funeral day.
âI will see him, when is he here? Monday?,â Kennedy asks an aide.
âMonday and Tuesday.â
âWell thatâs a tough day,â says the aide.
âItâs a hell of a day, Mr. President.â
7. Kennedy the Family Man
The tapes also record Kennedy interacting with his children. In one segment, you can hear a 6-year-old Caroline and 3-year-old John Kennedy playing outside the Oval Office while Kennedy talks with Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko.
âYou can just open the door thereâjust have you say hello to my daughter and son,â he tells Gromyko. âCome in a minute and say hello. Want to say hello to the minister? Do you want to say hello to John?â
âHello, hello,â Gromyko says as the children enter. âThey are very popular in our country.â
Kennedy introduces Gromyko by telling John and Caroline that his boss, Nikita Khrushchev, gave them their dog. âHis chief is the one who sent you Pushinka. You know that? You have the puppies.â