Bridge of Spies: A Universal Lesson in Negotiation
Let’s put aside historical accuracy. Any of the historical “revisions” in Stephen Spielberg’s film, Bridge of Spies, do not affect the brilliant but simple art of negotiation masterminded by the main character of the film and star of the negotiation. As the film opens, lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) works as a partner in his own New York law firm. Before this, Donovan earned an impressive reputation as general counsel in government war offices instituted for purposes of World War II. From there, he participated in the famous Nuremberg trials. In fairness, then, understand that Donovan was not your worker-bee tax attorney plucked from a mound of IRS client files. The US government turns to Donovan to negotiate a trade between us and the USSR–one of our spies for one of theirs. Rudolf Abel was a convicted KGB- -Soviet Committee for State Security–spy in US custody. Gary Frances Powers was a pilot flying an American U-2 spy plane