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The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

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Dan Ellsberg, the reader probably knows, is the analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press during the early 1970s. The Vietnam war had been raging, and all of a sudden the mainstream press had access to secret documents that showed, first, that plans had been in place for invasion of Indochina from the time Truman was in office, and that from Truman on, presidents had been lying to us up to and including the alleged attack of two US ships on the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 which caused the real explosion of that war.

What many people don't know about Dr. Ellsberg is that he was an officer in the Marine Corps before he went into the academic world, then became a Rand Corp. analyst.

The most interesting element of the film is the process of watching Ellsberg change. He even examined a little of what led him into the Marines, wondering, he thought, whether he could make it. He ended up being the only 1st lieutenant overseeing 211 other Marines in a rifle company. While there, he still seemed to believe in "the system."

Early in the film, it seemed like it may go into a pscho-babble direction, i.e., diagnosing why he did what he did, But that wasn't, fortunately, taken too far. But while working for the system--being part of that system that perpetuated the war-- his conscience began to bother him. He talked with others, notably Tony Russo, who encouraged him to follow his conscience.

The film went from a silhouetted "actor" portraying Ellsberg on the phone, or in discussions with others, to an occasional animation. But the animation wasn't frivolous. Some of it was, for example, of his kids and he xeroxing the top secret papers, the police coming to the door on an unrelated incident, and Ellsberg almost embarassingly describing how the police had no idea what was going on right under their noses.

Throughout the film, there were graphics of a reel-to-reel tape player accompanied by the "surtitles" of what President Nixon was saying, to Henry Kissinger, to Al Haig, and to others, the profanity for which Nixon was notorious, and how he was going to get Ellsberg, etc. etc.

Another interesting perspective of Ellsberg on the press's reaction to what his use of tangible figures to describe the war: he'd tell reporters how much bomb tonnage was dropped in Vietnam, and compared it to Hiroshima. (At the very beginning of the film, someone, I don't recall who, stated something about the most overbombed country in history or something to that effect; the amount of bombing we did over that little country was beyond anything that had been done before, even on developed countries!) But the press didn't seem to make note of those figures, something measurable by which to evaluate the damage we were inflicting on Vietnam despite how often Ellsberg cited them.

There may have been a little more adoration of Ellsberg than was appropriate. But my saying that is as much speculation, and I guess some of my own skepticism coming out. For instance, Ellsberg had been anxious to get the material published in the NY Times, and pressed them to release it. Then the FBI was on the prowl for him. But he wanted more and more elements of the press to get it. The film made it look like it was his strategy, or tenacity, that caused seventeen publications, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, the LA Times and others, to release more of the papers. My skepticism leads me to think there was as much chance to that many publications getting access to the information, but, again, perhaps I'm speculating.

When the FBI finally caught up with Ellsberg and Russo, they were on trial for long terms, in Ellsberg's case, for up to 115 years. But during the trial, it turned out that the government had been bugging Ellsberg for years before the Pentagon Papers were even an issue. The government had bungled the case so badly that a mistrial was called, and Nixon responded with his usual comments.

What intrigued me most about the film is the connections that it made between the release of the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate incident, and the eventual downfall (resignation) of Nixon. At least according to the film, they were closely related with the Papers release having catalyzed the whole process.

Shelving my skepticism for now, until it's challenged, I'll buy that contention of the film. Again, it's not a connection I'd made before but it sure seems logical after seeing this film which should be shown to every class in high school or college dedicated to the study of the Vietnam conflict.

No government really likes a whistle-blower, especially when that person blows the façade off a seemingly until then justified war. There is something in the ethos of Western civilization that, whether the exposure is done for good and without expectations of remuneration or evil, would rather not know the messy details of what goes on in the backrooms and is as likely to `shoot the messenger' as those who created the vast illegality. The word "snitch" comes to mind. However here in this documentary based on the life and times of one Daniel Ellsberg and his brave, no heroic, efforts to get the truth out is well done, well thought out, and worthy of commemoration.

For a younger generation not familiar with the virtual civil war that was going on in American society in the latter stages of the Vietnam War this will serve as a primer, of sorts. Virtually every institution from the local PTA to the White House was subject to analysis and to questioning about the purposes of its existence. Although such intense scrutiny only lasted for a short while it provided enough political space for the previously seemingly non-heroic ex-Marine Daniel Ellsberg to do his expose, for the mainstream mass media, like the "New York Times", "Washington Post", and "The Boston Globe" very connected to the governmental levers of power, to take a chance on publishing the whole of Ellsberg's discoveries. And, frankly, with the partial exception of Watergate there have been very few subsequent efforts like this from inside the establishment.

Needless to say, most of this documentary is driven by the highlights in the case from initial attempts of Ellsberg to get the expose published to the courts and, ultimately, the decision to dismiss the criminal charges against him brought by a rabid and vindictive Nixon administration. This film has none of the fawning over of its main figure that "Fog Of War" has, the so-called documentary of the late, if unlamented, former Defense Secretary, Robert Strange McNamara, who as fate would have it originally commissioned "The Pentagon Papers" giving his take on his handiwork. This production is like a breathe of fresh air in comparison. Whatever you may think of whistle-blowers in other contexts, here hats off to Daniel Ellsberg. Thanks, brother.

Recently, I viewed this film in a Portland, Oregon theatre, with Dr. Ellsberg in person conducting a Q&A session following the film.

Reviewed from any direction, this is an excellent piece of personal reportage. Meticulously researched, truthfully written, realisticly but creatively shot, and marvelously edited, this is a serious and highly responsible documentation, not only of an important period of American history, but also of the broad and deep failure of this generation of leaders in positions of responsibility to "do the right thing." And, it may well be a predictor of what can happen to the future of presidential leadership, if well-informed, highly responsible and conscientious citizens and the mainstream media don't take our roles seriously, and act to preserve the values on which this country was founded.

Timme Helzer, Professor and Consultant
Organizational Leadership and Change

This documentary very much favors the side of Daniel Ellsberg, he is, after all, also the narrator of his own story. However while he may be considered either a traitor or a hero - an issue firmly addressed in the film - there is no denying the facts and importance of his leaked revelations. From the lie that empowered LBJ to fully mobilize the US military in Vietnam, through the line of successive Presidents who propagated the myths of "great progress" and "we will win". If any of this sounds familiar in the light of far more recent events, it should.

One of the most interesting aspects to come out of this film is Ellsberg's disappointment in public reaction to the leaks, the substance of which was never contested, Ellsberg's crime was not one of creating fiction, it was one of revealing the official truth behind the official version. The public heard it all, understood but ultimately remained indifferent, even with the national press heavily engaged in promoting the contents of the leaks and condemning the powers that be. The nineteen-seventies may one day be regarded as the last great era of investigative journalism - the publication of The Pentagon Papers would be overshadowed a year later by The Washington Post and The Watergate Scandal - but Governments clearly learned from the hard lessons of getting found out by an independent press and acted accordingly.

Parallels with today's Wikileaks Afghanistan exposé - a far more mundane affair in comparison - are inevitable, and while 1971 may seem like a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, human nature is the same today as then. Nothing has changed, and maybe that it was makes this film so essential, in the end it is less about the historical event of one man publishing top secret documents, as how those documents are received by the press and public. In a filmed interview President Nixon states that regardless of his motives Ellsberg's actions gave "comfort to the enemy" and again if any of this sounds familiar in the light of far more recent events, it should.

For readers familiar with George Orwell's 1984, O'Brien's outright dismissal of Winston Smith's faith in an eventual proletarian uprising against oppression may have stood on seemingly shaky legs until the mid seventies, since then it's a done deal.

I completely missed the release of this film in July, and stumbled on it while picking movies for a sick son.

It opens with Henry Kissinger, since demonstrated to be a war criminal, calling Daniel Elsberg the most dangerous man in America, and lamenting the release of secret documents (that ultimately proved government perfidy). Fast forward to WikiLeaks as a sequel to the 935 documented lies led by Dick Cheney.

The Trial of Henry Kissinger
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq

What comes across throughout this movie are a few persistent trends:
01 Grotesquely disproportionate commitment of resources
02 Routine lying to the public by those who knew better
03 Increasing doubts by McNamara, but loyalty prevailed over integrity
04 Confronting the reality that public service demands integrity
05 Elsberg describes his tutorial to Kissinger on the negative and deceptive impact of being flooded with secrets while considering everyone else to be uninformed when they are actually closer to the open truth
06 Mort Halperin appears multiple times.
07 Honest history does not support imperialism. America was wrong from the Geneva Accords onwards. Kennedy and Nixon both lied.

Moving concise coverage of how he was radicalized by seeing that the best of our young men were willing to go to prison with courage and integrity. This is what forced him to recognize that keeping silent as a witness to lies of public import led to his leaking the papers.

His own book, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers is essential reading, and I have written a long detailed review of it.

Most fascinating to me was the agonizing decision of the New York Times about publishing the story in the public interest--the kicker was their realization that eventually it would be known that they had the chance to inform the public early on, and if they did not, it would be known they had blinked and NOT served the public.

Ultimately, in an era when the Supreme Court still had integrity, the Pentagon Papers yielded the single most important decision in favor of public knowledge, ruling that newspapers were supposed to serve the governed, not the government.

This entire movie is SO relevant to today's WikiLeaks situation, I am raising it to 6 Star and Beyond at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog.

See Also:
None So Blind: A Personal Account of the Intelligence Failure in Vietnam
Who the Hell Are We Fighting?: The Story of Sam Adams and the Vietnam Intelligence Wars

Other DVDs I recommend along with this one:
Why We Fight
The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara
The Good Soldier
American Drug War: The Last White Hope
The U.S. vs. John Lennon

I sat riveted to my seat while watching this engrossing documentary. Everyone should see this. I commend Daniel Ellsberg for his integrity and courage. I can't wait to own the DVD.

I feel a conflict in my mind and heart pertaining to Mr. Ellsberg's decision to take , copy and disseminate top secret government documents . Be that as it may , i was not born until 1963 . I never paid much attention , as i grew up , to what the Pentagon Papers were . If , like me, you'd like to know what they were and the story of them and Mr. Ellsberg , i can't imagine a film better suited to those purposes . Fascinating documentary film making .

What kind of transformation would move someone who was a dedicated Marine, and scholar, and who worked for the American Military Industrial Complex and turn them into a leaker of classified information to the American public and the world - making them in the words of Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State under Richard Nixon the "Most Dangerous Man In America?"

Daniel Ellsberg's story is told here, filling out a lot of unknown history the United States during the Viet Nam era, but informative to the whole Post-WWII mindset of the United States as an empire and one of the most militarily active hegemonies that has ever existed, particularly given our branding and self-image.

This is an amazing documentary, should be required viewing for all Americans as to what business as usual means in the United States of America. At least watch this movie, if not buy it!

While the events in this film took place in the 1970's they are equally relevant today with unnecessary wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan and current Wikileaks disclosures. This is a must view film for anyone who fears the damage that can be caused by unchecked governmental power. We sorely need another Daniel Ellsberg today.

I was transfixed by this moving account of Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. If you lived through this era, all of those names flashed repeatedly in the nightly news at the time will come alive to you. If you were born post Pentagon Papers, you can find out about an absolutely pivotal time in the history of the United States. I took away SO much from this movie. It is a fascinating, riviting portrayal of the events and issues of that time.

But, more importantly, it shows how this man, Daniel Ellsberg, evolved. Mr. Ellsberg reveals, in a very personal, raw narrative of how he came to make this profound, dramatic turn. The culture of denial, cover-up and delusion became undeniably apparent. He stated, "it wasn't that we were on the wrong side, we were the wrong side." He teaches us, through his experience, without being preachy, not only to question authority, but to question ourselves. To face reality, and act responsibly, even if this means facing disdain and contempt, losing your career, and indeed, your very freedom.

The documentary also illucidates the role of Randy Kehler, a war resister, in his dramatic influence on Daniel Ellsberg. We had never heard much about him. One person really can make a difference. Even if he or she is not famous, or in "high places".

I am tempted to say this movie ripped my heart out. And it did. But it also reached in, very deep, and grabbed my conscience.
The messages in this documentary will stay with me forever. This man's bravery and courage continues today as he speaks out when it is not popular. I feel like I know him now. Thank you Daniel Ellsberg. And thank you to your late, bold, daring "partner in crime", Anthony Russo. I can still hear your whistles blowing.