Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Protest of a Different Sort

According to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, “The most dangerous man in America.”

In the 1960s, Ellsberg is an “insider”

In his own words, the “crime” -On the evening of October 1, 1969, I walked out past the guards' desk at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, carrying a briefcase filled with Top Secret documents, which I planned to photocopy that night. The documents were part of a 7,000-page Top Secret study of U.S. decision-making in Vietnam, later known as the Pentagon Papers. The rest of the study was in a safe in my office. I had decided to copy it all and make it public: perhaps through Senate hearings, or the press if necessary. I believed this course, especially the latter possibility, would probably put me in prison for the rest of my life.

NYTs and Washington Post Obtain Copies

“I surrendered to arrest and eventually faced indictment on twelve felony charges, facing a possi 115 years in prison.”

Traitor or Hero? -- “Perhaps the greatest whistleblower in American history.”

What kind of war was Vietnam? Civil War? Different groups within a country fight for control War of Conquest? One independent country tries to take over another independent country

Type? War of National Liberation? War to gain independence from a colonial power War of Imperialism? War for the resources of a smaller, weaker country Cold War conflict? Communism v. capitalism. US vs. USSR/China