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careful extensive policy deliberation, and this may lead to dangerous policy mistakes. He asked
whether under the pressure of global television Kennedy would have had the time to carefully
consider options to resolve the highly inflammable Cuban missile crisis. Kennedy had thirteen
days to make decisions and to negotiate an acceptable agreement with the Soviets to end the
crisis. President Bill Clinton’s press secretary, Dee Dee Myers also contrasted the time Kennedy
had to make decisions in the Cuban crisis with today’s practice. She argued "If that happened
now, Bill Clinton would have about 30 minutes, and Wolf Blitzer [CNN Reporter] and everybody
else would be standing out on the North Lawn of the White House demanding action, or saying
’the president is indecisive.’ So I worry that the time allowed leaders in crisis to make good
decisions is compressed. That’s a troubling development" (Patterson, 2000, pp. 130-31). The
veteran journalist Daniel Schorr (1998) agreed with these concerns: “Think about the
communication age we live in and the way nail-biting officials must make fateful decisions
without time to think. And, if you are like me, you will worry a little bit when powerful people
make snap decisions, trying to keep up with the information curve” (p. 11).
Time for Official Response
It is difficult to correlate good decisions with the length of time available for policymaking. Great
leaders may make the right decision fast and others may make wrong decisions even when they
have weeks to deliberate all their options. It is logical to assume however, that in most cases, the
more the time leaders have for collecting information, consultation and thinking, the greater is
their chance to avoid major mistakes. The observations made by Beschloss, Myers, and Schorr
point to a difficult dilemma political leaders often face. If they respond immediately without
taking the time to carefully consider policy options, they may make a mistake. However, if they
insist they need more time to think, or have no comment for the time being, they create the
impression, both at home and abroad of confusion or of losing control over events.
Convention