![Dissident Activities in Indochina](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Dissident_Activities_in_Indochina.svg)
The ''Pentagon Papers'', officially titled ''Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force'', is a
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
history of the
United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. Released by
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is an American political activist, and former United States military analyst. While employed by the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the ''Pent ...
, who had worked on the study, they were first brought to the attention of the public on the front page of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 1971.
A 1996 article in ''The New York Times'' said that the ''Pentagon Papers'' had demonstrated, among other things, that the
Johnson Administration had "systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress."
The ''Pentagon Papers'' revealed that the U.S. had secretly enlarged the scope of its actions in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
with coastal raids on
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
and
Marine Corps
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
attacks—none of which were reported in the mainstream media. For his disclosure of the ''Pentagon Papers'', Ellsberg was initially charged with conspiracy, espionage, and theft of government property; charges were later dismissed, after prosecutors investigating the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
discovered that the staff members in the
Nixon White House had ordered the so-called
White House Plumbers
The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week after the public ...
to engage in unlawful efforts to discredit Ellsberg.
In June 2011, the documents forming the ''Pentagon Papers'' were declassified and publicly released.
Contents
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the Lis ...
created the Vietnam Study Task Force on June 17, 1967, for the purpose of writing an "encyclopedic history of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
".
McNamara claimed that he wanted to leave a written record for historians, to prevent policy errors in future administrations, although
Les Gelb, then director of Policy Planning at the Pentagon, has said that the notion that they were commissioned as a "cautionary tale" is a motive that McNamara only used in retrospect. McNamara told others, such as
Dean Rusk
David Dean Rusk (February 9, 1909December 20, 1994) was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, the second-longest serving Secretary of State after Cordell Hull from the F ...
, that he only asked for a collection of documents rather than the studies he received.
[Gelb, Les and Gladstone, Brooke (January 12, 2018)]
What the Press and "The Post" Missed
On The Media. Motives aside, McNamara neglected to inform either President
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
or Secretary of State Dean Rusk about the study.
One report claimed that McNamara had planned to give the work to his friend,
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
, who was seeking the
Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.
which he later denied, though admitting that he should have informed Johnson and Rusk.
Instead of using existing Defense Department historians, McNamara assigned his close aide and
Assistant Secretary of Defense
Assistant Secretary of Defense is a title used for many high-level executive positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the U.S. Department of Defense. The Assistant Secretary of Defense title is junior to Under Secretary of Defe ...
John McNaughton
John McNaughton (born January 13, 1950) is an American film and television director, originally from Chicago, Illinois, whose works encompass the horror, thriller, drama and comedy film genres. His films include '' Henry: Portrait of a Seria ...
to collect the papers.
McNaughton died in a
plane crash
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...
one month after work began in June 1967, but the project continued under the direction of Defense Department official
Leslie H. Gelb
Leslie Howard "Les" Gelb (March 4, 1937 – August 31, 2019) was an American academic, correspondent and columnist for ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New ...
.
Thirty-six analysts—half of them active-duty military officers, the rest academics and civilian federal employees—worked on the study.
The analysts largely used existing files in the
Office of the Secretary of Defense
The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out aut ...
. In order to keep the study secret from others, including
National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils.
National sec ...
Walt Rostow
Walt Whitman Rostow (October 7, 1916 – February 13, 2003) was an American economist, professor and political theorist who served as National Security Advisor to President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1969.
Rostow worked ...
, they conducted no interviews or consultations with the armed forces, with the White House, or with other federal agencies.
McNamara left the Defense Department in February 1968, and his successor
Clark Clifford
Clark McAdams Clifford (December 25, 1906October 10, 1998) was an American lawyer who served as an important political adviser to Democratic presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter. His official governme ...
received the finished study on January 15, 1969, five days before
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
's inauguration, although Clifford claimed he never read it. The study consisted of 3,000 pages of historical analysis and 4,000 pages of original government documents in 47 volumes, and was classified as "Top Secret – Sensitive". ("Sensitive" is not an
official security designation; it meant that access to the study should be controlled.) The task force published 15 copies; the think tank
RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
received two of the copies from Gelb,
Morton Halperin
Morton H. Halperin (born June 13, 1938) is a longtime expert on U.S. foreign policy, arms control, civil liberties, and the workings of bureaucracies.
He was a senior advisor to the Open Society Foundations, which was founded by George Soros. ...
and
Paul Warnke
Paul Culliton Warnke (January 31, 1920 – October 31, 2001) was an American diplomat.
Early life and education
Warnke was born in Webster, Massachusetts, but spent most of his childhood in Marlborough, Massachusetts, where his father managed ...
, with access granted if at least two of the three approved.
Organization and content of the documents
The 47 volumes of the papers were organized as follows:
I.
Vietnam and the U.S., 1940–1950 (1 Vol.)
:A. U.S. Policy, 1940–50
:B. The Character and Power of the Viet Minh
:C. Ho Chi Minh: Asian Tito?
II.
U.S. Involvement in the Franco–Viet Minh War, 1950–1954 (1 Vol.)
:A. U.S., France and Vietnamese Nationalism
:B. Toward a Negotiated Settlement
III.
The Geneva Accords (1 Vol.)
:A. U.S. Military Planning and Diplomatic Maneuver
:B. Role and Obligations of State of Vietnam
:C. Viet Minh Position and Sino–Soviet Strategy
:D. The Intent of the Geneva Accords
IV.
Evolution of the War (26 Vols.)
:A. U.S. MAP for Diem: The Eisenhower Commitments, 1954–1960 (5 Vols.)
::1. NATO and SEATO: A Comparison
::2. Aid for France in Indochina, 1950–54
::3. U.S. and France's Withdrawal from Vietnam, 1954–56
::4. U.S. Training of Vietnamese National Army, 1954–59
::5. Origins of the Insurgency
:B. Counterinsurgency: The Kennedy Commitments, 1961–1963 (5 Vols.)
::1. The Kennedy Commitments and Programs, 1961
::2. Strategic Hamlet Program, 1961–63
::3. The Advisory Build-up, 1961–67
::4. Phased Withdrawal of U.S. Forces in Vietnam, 1962–64
::5. The Overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem, May–Nov. 1963
:C. Direct Action: The Johnson Commitments, 1964–1968 (16 Vols.)
::1. U.S. Programs in South Vietnam, November 1963–April 1965: NSAM 273 – NSAM 288 – Honolulu
::2. Military Pressures Against NVN (3 Vols.)
:::a. February–June 1964
:::b. July–October 1964
:::c. November–December 1964
::3. Rolling Thunder Program Begins: January–June 1965
::4. Marine Combat Units Go to DaNang, March 1965
::5. Phase I in the Build-Up of U.S. Forces: March–July 1965
::6. U.S. Ground Strategy and Force Deployments: 1965–1967 (3 Vols.)
:::a. Volume I: Phase II, Program 3, Program 4
:::b. Volume II: Program 5
:::c. Volume III: Program 6
::7. Air War in the North: 1965–1968 (2 Vols)
:::a. Volume I
:::b. Volume II
::8. Re-emphasis on Pacification: 1965–1967
::9. U.S.–GVN Relations (2 Vols.)
:::a. Volume 1: December 1963 – June 1965
:::b. Volume 2: July 1965 – December 1967
::10. Statistical Survey of the War, North and South: 1965–1967
V.
Justification of the War (11 Vols.)
:A. Public Statements (2 Vols.)
::Volume I: A – The Truman Administration
:::::B – The Eisenhower Administration
:::::C – The Kennedy Administration
::Volume II: D – The Johnson Administration
:B. Internal Documents (9 Vols.)
::1. The Roosevelt Administration
::2. The Truman Administration: (2 Vols.)
:::a. Volume I: 1945–1949
:::b. Volume II: 1950–1952
::3. The Eisenhower Administration: (4 Vols.)
:::a. Volume I: 1953
:::b. Volume II: 1954–Geneva
:::c. Volume III: Geneva Accords – 15 March 1956
:::d. Volume IV: 1956 French Withdrawal – 1960
::4. The Kennedy Administration (2 Vols.)
:::Book I
:::Book II
VI.
Settlement of the Conflict (6 Vols.)
:A. Negotiations, 1965–67: The Public Record
:B. Negotiations, 1965–67: Announced Position Statements
:C. Histories of Contacts (4 Vols.)
::1. 1965–1966
::2. Polish Track
::3. Moscow–London Track
::4. 1967–1968
Actual objective of the Vietnam War: Containment of China
![Containment of China](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Containment_of_China.jpg)
Although President Johnson stated that the aim of the Vietnam War was to secure an "independent, non-Communist
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
", a January 1965 memorandum by Assistant Secretary of Defense
John McNaughton
John McNaughton (born January 13, 1950) is an American film and television director, originally from Chicago, Illinois, whose works encompass the horror, thriller, drama and comedy film genres. His films include '' Henry: Portrait of a Seria ...
stated that an underlying justification was "not to help friend, but to contain China".
On November 3, 1965, Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the Lis ...
sent a memorandum to President Johnson, in which he explained the "major policy decisions with respect to our course of action in Vietnam". The memorandum begins by disclosing the rationale behind the bombing of North Vietnam in February 1965:
McNamara accused China of harboring
imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texa ...
aspirations like those of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
,
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
,
Imperial Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. According to McNamara, the Chinese were conspiring to "organize all of Asia" against the United States:
To encircle the Chinese, the United States aimed to establish "three fronts" as part of a "long-run effort to contain China":
However, McNamara admitted that the
containment of China would ultimately sacrifice a significant amount of America's time, money and lives.
Internal affairs of Vietnam
Years before the
Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred on August 2, 1964, the U.S. government was indirectly involved in Vietnam's affairs by sending advisors or (military personnel) to train the South Vietnamese soldiers:
* Under President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
, the U.S. government aided
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in its war against the communist-led
Viet Minh
The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...
during the
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
.
* Under President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
, the U.S. government played a "direct role in the ultimate breakdown of the
Geneva settlement" in 1954 by supporting the fledgling South Vietnam and covertly undermining the communist country of North Vietnam.
* Under President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, the U.S. government transformed its policy towards Vietnam from a limited "gamble" to a broad "commitment".
* Under President Johnson, the U.S. government began waging covert military operations against communist North Vietnam in defense of South Vietnam.
Role of the United States in the rise of President Diem
![Ngo Dinh Diem at Washington - ARC 542189](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Ngo_Dinh_Diem_at_Washington_-_ARC_542189.jpg)
In a section of the ''Pentagon Papers'' titled "Kennedy Commitments and Programs", America's commitment to South Vietnam was attributed to the creation of the country by the United States. As acknowledged by the papers:
In a sub-section titled "Special American Commitment to Vietnam", the papers emphasized once again the role played by the United States:
More specifically, the United States sent US$28.4 million worth of equipment and supplies to help the Diem regime strengthen its army. In addition, 32,000 men from
South Vietnam's Civil Guard were trained by the United States at a cost of US$12.7 million. It was hoped that Diem's regime, after receiving a significant amount of U.S. assistance, would be able to withstand the
Viet Cong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
.
The papers identified General
Edward Lansdale
Edward Geary Lansdale (February 6, 1908 – February 23, 1987) was a United States Air Force officer until retiring in 1963 as a major general before continuing his work with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Lansdale was a pioneer in cl ...
, who served in the
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
(OSS) and worked for the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA), as a "key figure" in the establishment of Diem as the President of South Vietnam, and the backing of Diem's regime thereafter. As written by Lansdale in a 1961 memorandum: "We (the U.S.) must support Ngo Dinh Diem until another strong executive can replace him legally."
Role of the United States in the overthrow of Diem's regime
![Corpse of Ngô Đình Diệm in the 1963 coup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Corpse_of_Ng%C3%B4_%C4%90%C3%ACnh_Di%E1%BB%87m_in_the_1963_coup.jpg)
According to the ''Pentagon Papers'', the U.S. government played a key role in the
1963 South Vietnamese coup
In November 1963, President Ngô Đình Diệm and the Personalist Labor Revolutionary Party of South Vietnam was deposed by a group of Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers who disagreed with his handling of both the Buddhist crisis and the V ...
, in which Diem was assassinated. While maintaining "clandestine contact" with Vietnamese generals planning a coup, the U.S. cut off its aid to President Diem and openly supported a successor government in what the authors called an "essentially leaderless Vietnam":
As early as August 23, 1963, an unnamed U.S. representative had met with Vietnamese generals planning a coup against Diem.
According to ''The New York Times'', this U.S. representative was later identified to be CIA officer
Lucien Conein
Lucien Emile "Lou" Conein (29 November 1919 – 3 June 1998)Barnes, Bart"Lucien E. Conein Dies at 79: Fabled Agent for OSS and CIA" ''The Washington Post'', June 6, 1998. p. B6. was a French-American citizen, noted U.S. Army officer and OSS/CIA op ...
.
Proposed operations
The
Director of Central Intelligence
The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Security C ...
,
John A. McCone
John Alexander McCone (January 4, 1902 – February 14, 1991) was an American businessman and politician who served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1961 to 1965, during the height of the Cold War.
Background
John A. McCone was born in ...
, proposed the following categories of military action:
* Category 1 – Air raids on major Viet Cong supply centers, conducted simultaneously by the
Republic of Vietnam Air Force
The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF; vi, Không lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa, KLVNCH; french: Force aérienne vietnamienne, FAVN) (sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Air Force or VNAF) was the aer ...
and the United States Air Force (codenamed
Farmgate
Farmgate is a area in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It is one of the busiest and most crowded areas of Dhaka city. From the early 90s', the area has seen the massive building and construction boom. Consequently, the area has gained commercial ...
)
* Category 2 – Cross-border raids on major Viet Cong supply centers, conducted by South Vietnamese units and US military advisors.
* Category 3 – Limited air strikes on North Vietnamese targets by unmarked planes flown exclusively by non-US aircrews.
However, McCone did not believe these military actions alone could lead to an escalation of the situation because the "fear of escalation would probably restrain the Communists".
In a memorandum addressed to President Johnson on July 28, 1964, McCone explained:
Barely a month after the Gulf of Tonkin incident on August 2, 1964, National Security Advisor
McGeorge Bundy
McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was an American academic who served as the U.S. National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 through 1966. He was president of the Ford Founda ...
warned that further provocations should not be undertaken until October, when the government of South Vietnam (GVN) would become fully prepared for a full-scale war against North Vietnam. In a memorandum addressed to President Johnson on September 8, 1964, Bundy wrote:
While maritime operations played a key role in the provocation of North Vietnam, U.S. military officials had initially proposed to fly a
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...
reconnaissance aircraft over the country, but this was to be replaced by other plans.
Leak
Daniel Ellsberg knew the leaders of the task force well. He had worked as an aide to McNaughton from 1964 to 1965, had worked on the study for several months in 1967, and Gelb and Halperin approved his access to the work at RAND in 1969. Now opposing the war, Ellsberg and his friend
Anthony Russo photocopied the study in October 1969 intending to disclose it. Ellsberg approached Nixon's National Security Advisor
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
, Senators
William Fulbright
James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. , Fulbright is the longest serving chair ...
and
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...
, and others, but none were interested.
In February 1971, Ellsberg discussed the study with ''The New York Times'' reporter
Neil Sheehan
Cornelius Mahoney Sheehan (October 27, 1936 – January 7, 2021) was an American journalist. As a reporter for ''The New York Times'' in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified '' Pentagon Papers'' from Daniel Ellsberg. His series of articles rev ...
, and gave 43 of the volumes to him in March. Before publication, ''The New York Times'' sought legal advice. The paper's regular outside counsel,
Lord Day & Lord
Lord Day & Lord was an American large, blue-chip New York City law firm. It was established in 1845 by Daniel Lord, his son Daniel DeForest Lord, and his son-in-law Henry Day.
History
The firm had retained the same name until 1988 when it merg ...
, advised against publication,
but in-house counsel
James Goodale prevailed with his argument that the press had a
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
right to publish information significant to the people's understanding of their government's policy.
''The New York Times'' began publishing excerpts on June 13, 1971; the first article in the series was titled "Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces Three Decades of Growing US Involvement". The study was dubbed ''The Pentagon Papers'' during the resulting media publicity.
Street protests, political controversy, and lawsuits followed.
To ensure the possibility of public debate about the papers' content, on June 29,
US Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
Mike Gravel
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...
, an Alaska Democrat, entered 4,100 pages of the papers into the record of his Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds. These portions of the papers, which were edited for Gravel by
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political scien ...
and
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...
, were subsequently published by
Beacon Press
Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...
, the publishing arm of the
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...
of Congregations. A federal
grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
was subsequently empaneled to investigate possible violations of federal law in the release of the report. Leonard Rodberg, a Gravel aide, was
subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
ed to testify about his role in obtaining and arranging for publication of the ''Pentagon Papers''. Gravel asked the court (in ''
Gravel v. United States'') to quash the subpoena on the basis of the
Speech or Debate Clause in
Article I, Section 6 of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
.
That clause provides that "for any Speech or Debate in either House,
Senator or Representativeshall not be questioned in any other Place", meaning that Gravel could not be prosecuted for anything said on the Senate floor, and, by extension, for anything entered to the ''Congressional Record'', allowing the papers to be publicly read without threat of a
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
trial and conviction. When Gravel's request was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court denied the request to extend this protection to Gravel or Rodberg because the grand jury subpoena served on them related to a third party rather than any act they themselves committed for the preparation of materials later entered into the Congressional Record. Nevertheless, the grand jury investigation was halted, and the publication of the papers was never prosecuted.
Later, Ellsberg said the documents "demonstrated unconstitutional behavior by a succession of presidents, the violation of their oath and the violation of the oath of every one of their subordinates."
He added that he leaked the Papers to end what he perceived to be "a wrongful war".
The Nixon administration's restraint of the media
President Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...
at first planned to do nothing about publication of the study, since it embarrassed the Johnson and Kennedy administrations rather than his; however,
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
convinced the president that not opposing the publication set a negative precedent for future secrets.
The administration argued Ellsberg and Russo were guilty of a
felony
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
under the
Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War ...
, because they had no authority to publish classified documents. After failing to persuade ''The New York Times'' to voluntarily cease publication on June 14,
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
John N. Mitchell and Nixon obtained a federal court injunction forcing ''The New York Times'' to cease publication after three articles.
''The New York Times'' publisher
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Sr. (February 5, 1926 – September 29, 2012) was an American publisher and a businessman. Born into a prominent media and publishing family, Sulzberger became publisher of ''The New York Times'' in 1963 and chairman of t ...
said:
The newspaper appealed the injunction, and the case ''
New York Times Co. v. United States
''New York Times Co. v. United States'', 403 U.S. 713 (1971), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the First Amendment right of Freedom of the Press. The ruling made it possible for ''The New York Times'' and ''The ...
'' (403 U.S. 713) quickly rose through the U.S. legal system to the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
.
On June 18, 1971, ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' began publishing its own series of articles based upon the ''Pentagon Papers'';
Ellsberg had given portions to ''The Washington Post'' reporter
Ben Bagdikian
Ben-hur Haig Bagdikian (January 30, 1920 – March 11, 2016) was an Armenian-American journalist, news media critic and commentator, and university professor.
An Armenian genocide survivor, Bagdikian moved to the United States as an infant and ...
. Bagdikian brought the information to editor
Ben Bradlee
Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...
. That day, Assistant U.S. Attorney General
William Rehnquist
William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...
asked ''The Washington Post'' to cease publication. After the paper refused, Rehnquist sought an injunction in U.S. district court. Judge
Murray Gurfein
Murray Irwin Gurfein (November 17, 1907 – December 16, 1979) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and prior to that a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for ...
declined to issue such an injunction, writing that "
e security of the Nation is not at the ramparts alone. Security also lies in the value of our free institutions. A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know." The government appealed that decision, and on June 26 the Supreme Court agreed to hear it jointly with ''The New York Times'' case.
Fifteen other newspapers received copies of the study and began publishing it.
The Supreme Court allows further publication
On June 30, 1971, the Supreme Court decided, 6–3, that the government failed to meet the heavy
burden of proof required for
prior restraint
Prior restraint (also referred to as prior censorship or pre-publication censorship) is censorship imposed, usually by a government or institution, on expression, that prohibits particular instances of expression. It is in contrast to censorship ...
injunction. The nine justices wrote nine opinions disagreeing on significant, substantive matters.
Thomas Tedford and Dale Herbeck summarized the reaction of editors and journalists at the time:
Legal charges against Ellsberg
Ellsberg surrendered to authorities in Boston, and admitted that he had given the papers to the press: "I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in concealing this information from the American public. I did this clearly at my own jeopardy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of this decision".
He was indicted by a grand jury in Los Angeles on charges of stealing and holding secret documents.
Federal District Judge
William Matthew Byrne, Jr. declared a
mistrial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
and dismissed all charges against Ellsberg and Russo on May 11, 1973, after it was revealed that agents acting on the orders of the Nixon administration illegally broke into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist and attempted to steal files; representatives of the Nixon administration approached the Ellsberg trial judge with an offer of the job of FBI directorship; several irregularities appeared in the government's case including its claim that it had lost records of illegal wiretapping against Ellsberg conducted by the
White House Plumbers
The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week after the public ...
in the contemporaneous
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
. Byrne ruled: "The totality of the circumstances of this case which I have only briefly sketched offend a sense of justice. The bizarre events have incurably infected the prosecution of this case." Ellsberg and Russo were freed due to the mistrial; they were not acquitted of violating the Espionage Act.
In March 1972, political scientist
Samuel L. Popkin, then assistant professor of Government at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, was jailed for a week for his refusal to answer questions before a grand jury investigating the Pentagon Papers case, during a hearing before the
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
Federal District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
. The Faculty Council later passed a resolution condemning the government's interrogation of scholars on the grounds that "an unlimited right of grand juries to ask any question and to expose a witness to citations for contempt could easily threaten scholarly research".
Gelb estimated that ''The New York Times'' only published about five percent of the study's 7,000 pages. The Beacon Press edition was also incomplete. Halperin, who had originally classified the study as secret, obtained most of the unpublished portions under the
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request:
* Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act
* ...
and the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
published them in 1983. The
National Security Archive
The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy. The Nat ...
published the remaining portions in 2002. The study itself remained formally classified until 2011.
Impact
The ''Pentagon Papers'' revealed that the United States had expanded its war with the bombing of Cambodia and Laos, coastal raids on North Vietnam, and Marine Corps attacks, none of which had been reported by the American media.
The most damaging revelations in the papers revealed that four administrations (Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson) had misled the public regarding their intentions. For example, the Eisenhower administration actively worked against the
Geneva Accords. The John F. Kennedy administration knew of plans to overthrow South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem before his death in a
November 1963 coup. President Johnson had decided to expand the war while promising "we seek no wider war" during his 1964 presidential campaign,
including plans to bomb North Vietnam well before the
1964 Election. President Johnson had been outspoken against doing so during the election and claimed that his opponent
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
was the one that wanted to bomb North Vietnam.
In another example, a memo from the Defense Department under the Johnson Administration listed the reasons for American persistence:
* 70% – To avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat (to our reputation as a guarantor).
* 20% – To keep
outh Vietnam(and the adjacent) territory from Chinese hands.
* 10% – To permit the people
f South Vietnamto enjoy a better, freer way of life.
* ALSO – To emerge from the crisis without unacceptable taint from methods used.
* NOT – To help a friend, although it would be hard to stay in if asked out.
Another controversy was that President Johnson sent combat troops to Vietnam by July 17, 1965, before pretending to consult his advisors on July 21–27, per the cable stating that "
Deputy Secretary of Defense
The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef) is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America.
The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the se ...
Cyrus Vance
Cyrus Roberts Vance Sr. (March 27, 1917January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer and United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. Prior to serving in that position, he was the United States Deputy Secretary of ...
informs McNamara that President had approved 34 Battalion Plan and will try to push through
reserve
Reserve or reserves may refer to:
Places
* Reserve, Kansas, a US city
* Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish
* Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County
* Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...
call-up."
In 1988, when that cable was declassified, it revealed "there was a continuing uncertainty as to
ohnson'sfinal decision, which would have to await Secretary McNamara's recommendation and the views of Congressional leaders, particularly the views of
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Russell">ichardRussell."
Nixon's
Solicitor General Erwin N. Griswold later called the ''Pentagon Papers'' an example of "massive overclassification" with "no trace of a threat to the national security". The ''Pentagon Papers publication had little or no effect on the ongoing war because they dealt with documents written years before publication.
After the release of the ''Pentagon Papers'',
Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for president ...
said:
Senator
Birch Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the Indiana ...
, who thought the publishing of the ''Pentagon Papers'' was justified, said:
Les Gelb reflected in 2018 that many people have misunderstood the most important lessons of the ''Pentagon Papers'':
Full release in 2011
On May 4, 2011, the National Archives and Records Administration announced that the papers would be declassified and released to the
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial site of Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th president of the United States (1969–1974), and his wife Pat Nixon.
Located in Yorba Linda, California, on land ...
in
Yorba Linda, California
Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 census.
Yor ...
, on June 13, 2011. The release date included the Nixon, Kennedy, and Johnson Libraries and the Archives office in
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known a ...
.
The full release was coordinated by the Archives's
National Declassification Center
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
(NDC) as a special project to mark the anniversary of the report.
There were still eleven words that the agencies having classification control over the material wanted to
redact, and the NDC worked with them, successfully, to prevent that redaction.
It is unknown which 11 words were at issue and the government has declined requests to identify them, but the issue was made moot when it was pointed out that those words had already been made public, in a version of the documents released by the House Armed Services Committee in 1972.
The Archives released each volume of the ''Pentagon Papers'' as a separate PDF file,
available on their website.
In films and television
Films
* ''
The Pentagon Papers
The ''Pentagon Papers'', officially titled ''Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force'', is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 ...
'' (2003), directed by
Rod Holcomb
Rod Holcomb is an American television director and producer, best known for directing the pilot and finale of '' ER''.
He has directed episodes of numerous television series, including ''Quincy, M.E.'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Battlest ...
and executive produced by
Joshua D. Maurer
Joshua D. Maurer (born February 26, 1964) is an American film producer, writer and actor who is best known for ''Georgia O'Keeffe,'' ''The Hoax,'' ''The Last Tycoon,'' '' Rosemary's Baby,'' '' Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret,'' ''Introducing Dor ...
, is a
historical film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...
made for
FX, in association with
Paramount Television
The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...
and City Entertainment, about the ''Pentagon Papers'' and Daniel Ellsberg's involvement in their publication. The film represents Ellsberg's life, beginning with his work for
RAND Corp. and ending with the day on which his espionage trial was declared a mistrial by a federal court judge. The film starred
James Spader
James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the drama ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (1989) for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the action scien ...
,
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
,
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...
, and
Claire Forlani.
* ''
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers'' (2009) is an Oscar nominated
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
, directed by
Judith Ehrlich
Judith Ehrlich (born 1948/1949) is an American film director, writer, and producer. Her work includes co-directing the 2009 documentary ''The Most Dangerous Man in America'', which was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 82nd Academ ...
and Rick Goldsmith, that follows Ellsberg and explores the events leading up to the publication of the ''Pentagon Papers''.
* ''
The Post'' (2017) is a historical drama film directed and co-produced by
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
from a script written by Liz Hannah and
Josh Singer
Josh Singer (born 1972) is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for writing '' The Fifth Estate'' (2013), ''Spotlight'' (2015), ''The Post'' (2017) and '' First Man'' (2018). He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenpl ...
about a pair of ''The Washington Post'' employees who battle the federal government over their right to publish the ''Pentagon Papers''. The film stars
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
as
Ben Bradlee
Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...
and
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...
as
Katharine Graham
Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, whi ...
. Daniel Ellsberg is played by
Matthew Rhys
Matthew Rhys Evans ( ; born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh actor.
He is known for playing Kevin Walker in '' Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in ''The Americans'' (2013–2018), for which he received two Golden Globe Awar ...
.
Television
* "On September 13, 2010, ''The New York Times'' Community Affairs Department and POV presented a panel discussion on the ''Pentagon Papers'', Daniel Ellsberg, and the ''Times''. The conversation, featuring Daniel Ellsberg,
Max Frankel
Max Frankel (born April 3, 1930) is an American journalist. He was executive editor of ''The New York Times'' from 1986 to 1994.
Life and career
Frankel was born in Gera, Germany. He was an only child, and his family belonged to a Jewish minorit ...
, former ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' executive editor, and
Adam Liptak
Adam Liptak (born September 2, 1960) is an American journalist, lawyer and instructor in law and journalism. He is the Supreme Court correspondent for '' The New York Times''.
Liptak has written for '' The New Yorker'', ''Vanity Fair'', '' Rolli ...
, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' Supreme Court reporter, was moderated by
Jill Abramson
Jill Ellen Abramson (born March 19, 1954) is an American author, journalist, and academic. She is best known as the former executive editor of ''The New York Times''; Abramson held that position from September 2011 to May 2014. She was the first ...
, managing editor of ''The New York Times''" and former Washington bureau chief, marking the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling.
* "In 1971
Defense Department analyst, former U.S. Marine company commander and anti-Communist Daniel Ellsberg leaked the ''Pentagon Papers'' to the media. In this talk, Ellsberg presents an explosive inside account of how and why he helped bring an end to the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
and
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
's presidency. He also talks about the current potential for war with Iraq and why he feels that would be a major mistake for the United States." Series: Voices
/2003 ublic Affairs umanities how ID: 7033
See also
*
Afghanistan Papers
The ''Afghanistan Papers'' are a set of interviews relating to the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), war in Afghanistan undertaken by the United States military prepared by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) that ...
* "
Credibility gap
Credibility gap is a term that came into wide use with journalism, political and public discourse in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. At the time, it was most frequently used to describe public skepticism about the Lyndon B. Johnson a ...
"
*
Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
*
Global surveillance disclosures
*
James L. Greenfield
*
Operation Popeye
Operation Sober Popeye (Project Controlled Weather Popeye / Motorpool / Intermediary-Compatriot) was a military cloud-seeding project carried out by the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War in 1967–1972. The highly classified program attempted ...
— U.S. weather modification operation, revealed in the ''Pentagon Papers''
*
United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began on Sunday, 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and ...
*
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
References
Works cited
*
Further reading
* ''The Pentagon Papers: The Defense Department History of United States Decisionmaking on Vietnam''. Boston: Beacon Press. 5 vols. "Senator Gravel Edition"; includes documents not included in government version. & .
* Neil Sheehan. ''The Pentagon Papers''. New York:
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...
(1971). .
* Daniel Ellsberg. ''Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers''. New York: Viking (2002). .
* "
Marcus Raskin
Marcus Goodman Raskin (April 30, 1934 – December 24, 2017) was an American progressive social critic, political activist, author, and philosopher. He was the co-founder, with Richard Barnet, of the progressive think tank the Institute for Poli ...
: For him, ideas were the seedlings for effective action" (obituary of Marcus Raskin), ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', Jan 29. / Feb 5. 2018, pp. 4, 8. Marcus Raskin in 1971, on receiving "from a source (later identified as ...
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is an American political activist, and former United States military analyst. While employed by the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the ''Pent ...
) 'a mountain of paper' ... that became known as the Pentagon Papers ...
ay
dhis customary catalytic role
ndput Ellsberg in touch with ''The New York Times'' reporter
Neil Sheehan
Cornelius Mahoney Sheehan (October 27, 1936 – January 7, 2021) was an American journalist. As a reporter for ''The New York Times'' in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified '' Pentagon Papers'' from Daniel Ellsberg. His series of articles rev ...
... A longtime passionate proponent of
nuclear disarmament
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear ...
,
askinwould also serve in the 1980s as chair of the SANE / Freeze campaign." (p. 4.)
* George C. Herring (ed.) ''The Pentagon Papers: Abridged Edition''. New York:
McGraw-Hill
McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...
(1993). .
* George C. Herring (ed.) ''Secret Diplomacy of the Vietnam War: The Negotiating Volumes of the Pentagon Papers'' (1983).
External links
* The complete, unredacted report.
* Complete text with supporting documents, maps, and photos.
* a resource site that supports a currently playing docu-drama about the ''Pentagon Papers''. The site provides historical context, time lines, bibliographical resources, information on discussions with current journalists, and helpful links.
* (audio/video and transcript).
*
* Part of WCBS 880's celebration of 40 years of newsradio.
*
*
*
{{Authority control
1967 documents
1968 documents
1969 documents
1971 in American politics
Classified documents
News leaks
Nixon administration controversies
Presidential scandals in the United States
Reports of the United States government
United States documents
Vietnam War
Whistleblowing in the United States
Works subject to a lawsuit
Works originally published in The New York Times