Oral history transcript, Joseph J. Sisco, interview 2 (II), 9/13/1983, by Ted Gittinger

The evolution of power in the United Nations (UN) from 1945 to 1983; the United States' power within the UN; the problem with giving each nation one vote; bringing Vietnam before the UN Security Council in the mid-1960s; UN Ambassador Arthur Goldberg's view of Vietnam policy; the role of the US ambassador to the UN and why Sisco thought Goldberg accepted the position; Goldberg's relationship with Secretary of State Dean Rusk; accusations of Zionism among LBJ's advisers; how US involvement in Vietnam may have affected its standing within the UN: policy changes in regard to China and Taiwan; UN reaction to the Tet Offensive in 1968; the assassination of John F. Kennedy; obstacles to negotiation in times of war, such as in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s and Lebanon and Central America in the 1980s; the dangers of coalition governments; Palestine and a pan-Arab nationalism; Middle Eastern policy as influenced by Congress and the so-called Jewish lobby; Sisco's opinion of US involvement in the Middle East.