Daniel Ellsberg

1931–2023 · The Pentagon Papers (1971)

A US military analyst who photocopied a top-secret study proving successive administrations had systematically misled the public about Vietnam, then gave it to The New York Times and The Washington Post. Prosecuted under the Espionage Act; the case collapsed in 1973 after gross government misconduct against him came to light. He spent the next fifty years defending whistleblowers and campaigning against nuclear secrecy.

The pursuit

Spent months secretly photocopying the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers study in 1969–1971.
Delivered the papers to the press in 1971 after Congress refused to act on them.
Stood trial facing 115 years in prison rather than flee; case dismissed over government burglaries and wiretaps against him.
Campaigned for five decades for later whistleblowers and for declassifying nuclear war planning.

The impact

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) — the Supreme Court precedent against prior restraint of the press.
Shortened public tolerance for the Vietnam War by proving it was known to be unwinnable.
Created the template — legal, journalistic, and moral — every later national-security whistleblower follows.

Where their work lives

Edward Snowden →

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