Crists Tapes

In October 1962. Presidents John F. Kennedy '40 and his of the 13-day crisis, according to professors interviewed yesterday.

Education said the tapes demonstrate how the administration's ultimate course of action differed considerably from the original discussion.

Kennedy and his advisers seriously considered air strikes against Cuba, according to the tapes.

Nothing New

"There's nothing in these discussions that scholarship hasn't already addressed," said Richard E. Neustadt, professor of public administration at the Kennedy School. But Neustadt emphasized the tapes' value as historical tools.

Neustadt recalled observations made by Robert F. Kennedy '48 after the crisis. Kennedy had said if the decision had been made in three hours, the course of action would have produced much more serious repercussions.

"The transcript gives bite to Kennedy's comment," Neustadt said.

According to Graham T. Allison '67, dean of the K-School, the tapes and transcripts "vividly remind the reader of the personalities and the seriousness of the situation."

"It's striking how rapidly JFK decided that the missiles had to be removed, that a military means of removing them was necessary, and that they had to get them before they became operational," Allison said.

"We're certainly going to do number one." John Kennedy says on the tapes "We're going to take out these missiles."

The transcript is solid evidence that nuclear war is certainly possible, Allison said. "The crisis is the best window for looking at the problem of nuclear war which is today a great concern."

The 87-page transcript and the 33-minute tape came to the Kennedy Library in 1976 and were opened last June after editing by the National Security Council, according to Daniel Fen, curator of the library.

The transcripts were probably purged of expletives and dialogue which would reflect sources and methods of intelligence, or possible covert interaction with the Cubans, he said.