The John F Kennedy National Security Files, 1961-1963, reproduces in microfilm memoranda, cables, intelligence projections, telegrams, conversations, correspondence and special studies relating specifically to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Central Europe, Asia and the Pacific and Western Europe. The collection provides documents maintained and organised by NSC adviser McGeorge Bundy and his staff of 'New Frontiersmen' and relate to foreign policy and national security issues including US attempts to achieve a state of détente with the Soviet Union, 1961-1963; US political, ideological and psychological perceptions of the First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, 1961-1963; the development of nuclear weapons technology and the massive build-up of nuclear deterrent forces, 1961-1963; the expansion and modernisation of US conventional forces to permit a 'flexible response' to Third World threats, 1961-1963; the establishment of guerrilla warfare programmes, 1961-1963; increased US economic and technical aid to the Third World under the Alliance for Progress; the Berlin Crisis and the resultant construction of the Berlin Wall, Aug 1961; statements issued by Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric relating to American nuclear second strike capabilities, 1961; the Cuban Missile Crisis and its aftermath, 1962; Kennedy's promotion of the 'Grand Design', increased economic and military trade with Europe; US reactions to growing West European scepticism of US nuclear deterrence; the increased US political and military commitment to Vietnam, including mention of the South Vietnamese military coup d'état which overthrew President, Ngo Dinh Diem, 1 Nov 1963.

Papers relating to his RAF career, 1942-[1953], principally comprising correspondence relating to the development of a submersible target at RAF St Eval, Cornwall, 1942, dated 1948; manuscript notes on the problems of establishing Coastal Command Station, Nassau, Bahamas, as a training centre for Coastal Liberator crews, 1942; official report on the RAF occupation of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, 5-11 May 1945; printed reports on the progress of air disarmament in Germany in 1944-1946, produced by British Air Forces of Occupation, 1945-1947; correspondence relating to his work as Director of Air Branch, Control Commission, Berlin, 1947-1949, and to the planning of the Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949; official report on organisation and structure of Berlin Airlift administration; RAF training course notes and papers, 1950; papers relating to his service as Assistant Chief of Staff, Allied Air Forces Central Europe, [1951-1953], notably including photographs of Waite, [1951-1953]; published RAF manuals, 1948, 1950.