Pentagon Papers
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United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political and military involvement in the Vietnam War from 1945 to 1971, with a focus on the internal planning and policy decisions within the U.S. Government. The study was commissioned in 1967 by Robert McNamara, then Secretary of Defense. McNamara appointed Leslie H. Gelb, who was also director of policy planning at the Pentagon, as director of the project. Gelb hired 36 military officers, civilian policy experts, and historians to write the monographs that constituted the content of the project. The Papers included 4,000 pages of actual documents from the 1945-1967 period, and 3,000 pages of analysis.
Most, but not all of the Pentagon Papers were given ("leaked") to the New York Times in early 1971 by Department of Defense employee Daniel Ellsberg. The Times began publishing excerpts as a series of articles on June 13. . Controversy and lawsuits followed. On June 29, U.S. Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska entered 4,100 pages of the Papers into the record of his subcommittee on Buildings and Grounds. These portions of the Papers were subsequently published by Beacon Press. The full papers have never been published; they are locked in the classified vault of the LBJ Presidential Library.
The Papers revealed, among other things, that the government had deliberately expanded its role in the war by conducting air strikes over Laos, raids along the coast of North Vietnam, and offensive actions taken by U.S. Marines well before the American public was told that such actions were necessary. All of this had happened while president Lyndon Johnson had been promising not to expand the war. The document increased the credibility gap for the U.S. government, and was seen as hurting the efforts by the Nixon administration to fight the war.
According to Anthony Lewis's contribution in the coursepack from James Goodale's (former inhouse counsel to the Times) law school course on Old Media, New Media the NY Times received advice from inhouse counsel not to publish. Goodale counseled otherwise.
When the Times began publishing its series, President Nixon became incensed. His words to National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger that day included "people have gotta be put to the torch for this sort of thing..." and "let's get the son-of-a-bitch in jail." After failing to get the Times to voluntarily stop publishing, Attorney General John Mitchell and President Nixon requested and obtained a federal court injunction that the Times cease the publication of excerpts. The Times appealed the injunction that was issued, and the case began (quickly) working its way through the court system.
On June 18th, the Washington Post, which had separately obtained the same portion of the Papers from Ellsberg, began publishing its own series of articles. That day the Post received a call from the Assistant Attorney General, William Rehnquist, asking them to stop publishing the documents. When the Post refused, the Justice Department sought another injunction. The U.S. District court judge refused, and the government appealed.
On June 26 the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to take both cases, merging them into the case New York Times Co. v. U.S. ( 403 US 713). On June 30th, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision that the injunctions were unconstitutional prior restraints and that the government had not met the heavy burden of proof required for prior restraint. The justices wrote nine separate opinions, disagreeing on significant substantive issues. While it was generally seen as a victory for those who claim the First Amendment enshrines an absolute right to free speech, many felt it was a lukewarm victory at best, offering little protection for future publishers when claims of national security are at stake.
Thomas Tedford and Dale Herbeck summed up the reaction of editors and publishers at the time:
- "As the press rooms of the Times and the Post began to hum to the lifting of the censorship order, the journalists of America pondered with grave concern the fact that for fifteen days the 'free press' of the nation had been prevented from publishing an important document and for their troubles had been given an inconclusive and uninspiring 'burden-of-proof' decision by a sharply divided Supreme Court. There was relief, but no great rejoicing, in the editorial offices of America's publishers and broadcasters." (Tedford and Herbeck, pp. 225–6 )
Bibliography
- _____ (1971). The Pentagon Papers. New York: Bantam Books. As published in The New York Times. ISBN 0552649171.
- _____ (1971–1972). 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. ISBN 0807005266 & ISBN 0807005223.
- Daniel Ellsberg (2002). Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. New York: Viking. ISBN 0670030309
- George C. Herring, ed. (1993). The Pentagon Papers: Abridged Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 007028380X.
- George C. Herring, ed. (1983). Secret Diplomacy of the Vietnam War: The Negotiating Volumes of the Pentagon Papers. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0292775733.
- David Rudenstine. (1998). The day the presses stopped: A history of the pentagon papers case. University of california press. ISBN 0520213823.
- Thomas Tedford and Dale Herbeck (2001). Freedom of Speech in the United States, fourth edition'. State College, Pennsylvania: Strata Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1891136046.
- U.S. Congress, House Committee on Armed Services (1971). United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967: A Study Prepared by The Department of Defense. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 12 vols.
External links
- [Official website for "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers"] by Daniel Ellsberg
- [Pentagon Papers]
- [Nixon Tapes & Supreme Court Oral Arguments]
Notes
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