- On Sunday, June 13th 1971, the New

York Times published a report that would

change history.

Their source was Daniel Ellsberg,

a military analyst working

for the government.

And the report, which would soon become

known as the Pentagon Papers,

included top secret and incriminating

information about the Vietnam War.

Between 1967 and 1969,

Ellsberg worked on a classified project

for the government called United States

Vietnam Relations 1945-1967,

a study prepared by the Department

of Defense.

The Pentagon Papers were not

a good look for the United

States government.

Ellsberg's research showed that there

were many military miscalculations,

and even flat out lies told

by politicians about US involvement

in Vietnam.

But why did Ellsberg decide

to leak the papers to the New York Times?

While working on the project,

he realized he no longer supported

the Vietnam War and thought

it was unwinnable.

In October of 1969, concerned

that the public was being lied to,

he began photocopying the report.

He leaked some documents to members

of Congress, but none of them went public.

So in 1970, Ellsberg leaked portions

to the New York Times and the Washington

Post.

The Pentagon Papers reveal

that the government had been involved

in Vietnam through several

presidencies, unbeknownst to

the American people.

As early as 1950, the Truman

administration gave military aid

to France against the Viet Minh.

In 1954, President Eisenhower

sent aircraft and military assistance

to Vietnam.

By that time, the US was covering 80%

of France's military expenses

in Indochina.

President Kennedy adopted a policy

of broad commitment to the war

in Vietnam, even though the American

people had been told US involvement would

be very limited.

Then President Lyndon B Johnson

waged military operations

against North Vietnam.

He began planning war in 1964,

a full year before the depth

of US involvement was revealed

to the public.

In 1971, when the New York Times broke

the story, President Nixon quickly

obtained a court injunction

from a federal judge in New York,

stopping the Times from printing

any more articles.

He argued that publishing

the Pentagon Papers would limit

the president's ability to guard

national security.

The Times adhered to the restraining

order, but they filed an appeal.

Meanwhile, Katharine Graham,

head of the Washington Post,

started publishing articles

about the Pentagon Papers instead.

Nixon tried to stop the Post as well,

but unlike the judge in New York,

the DC judge refused to issue

an injunction.

This allowed the Post to continue

publishing about the secret report.

The inconsistency between the Post

and Times cases quickly

brought both papers to trial

in the Supreme Court.

The Court decided that

under the freedom of press,

the government did not

have a strong enough case

to censor the press.

Nixon lost the fight and the articles

were printed.

Ellsberg was still indicted

under the Espionage Act

for leaking government secrets.

He could have been sentenced to 115

years in prison, but the charges

were dropped after evidence

of governmental misconduct

came to light.

Although the Pentagon Papers did not

include any details on Nixon's conduct

in Vietnam, the president

was embarrassed by the publications.

He subsequently sought to discredit

Ellsberg by using a team he

called "plumbers."

They broke into Ellsberg's

psychiatrist's office to try to uncover

embarrassing or harmful

information that might make

Ellsberg look bad.

This was the same group of burglars

who'd become famous for their role

in the Watergate scandal.

It didn't work.

Ellsberg was free, and together

with the New York Times, set

a new precedent for the press,

a responsibility to tell the truth,

even if it means publishing

classified documents.