Talk at the Brink: Deliberation and Decision during the Cuban Missile Crisis

235 Pages·2012·3.845 MB·English

by  David R. Gibson

Talk at the Brink
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Talk at the Brink
Deliberation and Decision during
the Cuban Missile Crisis
David R. Gibson
P r i nc e t on U n iv e r s i t y P r e s s
P r i nc e t on an d O xf or d
Copyright © 2012 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire
OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
Jacket art: Meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM). White
House, Cabinet Room. Photo credit: Cecil Stoughton, White House / John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Library, Boston.
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gibson, David R., 1969–
Talk at the brink : deliberation and decision during the Cuban Missile Crisis / David R.
Gibson.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-15131-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. 2. Social
interaction—United States—Case studies. 3. Decision making—United States—Case studies.
I. Title.
E841.G53 2012
972.9106'4—dc23
2011049042
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Adobe Caslon and Courier New
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Ann and Jeremy, equally responsible for my
preoccupation with the future.
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Contents
List of Illustrations and Excerpts ix
Preface xi
Chapter 1
Introduction: Talk in Time of Crisis 1
Chapter 2
The Future in Thought and Talk 24
Chapter 3
The ExComm 49
Chapter 4
The Response 74
Chapter 5
The Blockade 109
Chapter 6
The Deal 135
Chapter 7
Conclusion 159
Appendix A Timeline of Events and ExComm Meetings 167
Appendix B Dramatis Personae 175
Appendix C Conversation-A nalytic Transcribing Conventions 177
Appendix D The Audio Recordings 181
Notes 183
Bibliography 203
Index 213
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Illustrations and Excerpts
Figures and Table
Figure 2.1 Diagrammatic representations of excerpts 2.1
and 2.2 36
Figure 2.2 Forms of narrative relevance, with typical connectors 38
Figure 3.1 Frequency of speaking plotted against frequency of
being addressed, by ExComm member 69
Figure 3.2 Interruption probabilities and response times,
by ExComm member 70
Figure 4.1 Composite narrative from first three recorded
meetings (simplified) 75
Figure 4.2 Timeline of statements related to delivering a
warning before an air strike, or otherwise bombing
operational missiles 80–81
Figure 5.1 Timeline of blockade-r elated events and ExComm
meetings 110
Figure 5.2 Interlinear tonetic diagram for lines 4– 6 of
excerpt 5.5 121
Figure 6.1 Interlinear tonetic diagram for lines 94– 95 of
excerpt 6.8 154
Table 7.1 Summary of the argument 164
Excerpts
Excerpt 1.1 10/16 6:30 p.m. meeting, corresponding to
excerpt 1.2 14
Excerpt 1.2 10/16 6:30 p.m. meeting, tape 28a, 2:11 15
Excerpt 2.1 10/18 11:10 a.m. meeting, tape 30a, 7:49 35
Excerpt 2.2 10/18 11:10 a.m. meeting, tape 30a, 14:25 37
Excerpt 2.3 10/16 6:30 p.m. meeting, tape 28a, 22:34 39
Excerpt 2.4 10/18 11:10 a.m. meeting, tape 30, 87:25 41
Excerpt 3.1 10/16 11:50 a.m. meeting, tape 28, 47:31 55
Excerpt 3.2 10/16 11:50 a.m. meeting, tape 28, 42:40 56