Inside the Pentagon Papers (Modern War Studies) Paperback – May 19, 2004

"As with Vietnam, the current war on terrorism has a secret backstory far different from the one retailed so earnestly" by the administration, say the authors of this illuminating new look at the Pentagon Papers scandal of the 1970s. Scholar Prados (The White House Tapes: Eavesdropping on the President) and Porter, director of communications and publications for Vietnam Veterans of America, reexamine the secret government papers that blew the whistle on the Vietnam War, led to the federal attempts to restrain the press and ultimately resulted in President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The authors take readers into the meeting in which Times editors debated whether to publish the papers, a decision that presented "all the classic elements of journalistic dilemma." They offer previously unpublished transcripts of White House tapes (Nixon says, "Henry talked to that damn Jew Times executive Max Frankel all the time, he’s bad, you know..."). And in a final chapter, VVA general counsel Michael Gaffney considers the legal issues raised by the Pentagon Papers, and their implications for releasing classified government information today. Volumes about these issues abound, but Prados and Porter offer a concise look at those pivotal events and their long-term effects.
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"A wonderful and significant story. . . . The issues raised by the Pentagon Papers—presidential power, the role of the courts and the press, government secrecy—are all still with us. And this book throws fresh and important light on those issues."—Anthony Lewis in the New York Review of Books

"Highlights the burden of a free press that enriches a nation that cherishes freedom but yearns for national security. . . . Ideal for students in media ethics and media law classes."—American Journalism

"Offers a timely exploration for anyone wishing to investigate the legal precedents that obtain when government seeks to prevent the release of sensitive material. . . . The final chapters . . . offer considerable insight into contemporary issues of press freedom, government secrecy, and national security debates."—Journal of Military History

"The primary material is ably compiled and edited by Porter, and Prados’s analysis is insightful. He effectively argues that Nixon’s decision to challenge the open publication of these documents was an integral component of the comprehensive veil of secrecy that ultimately led to his downfall. This chilling reminder of the corrosive evils of arbitrary government secrecy in liberal society deserves a prominent place in any collection of Vietnam-era histories. Highly recommended."—Choice

"Exciting as history and compelling as law, Inside the Pentagon Papers gives us the secret documents from this famous case--and shows how thin the government's legal and factual arguments actually were."--Anthony Lewis, author of Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment

"This is a signal event, for the revelation of the Pentagon Papers brought forth Nixon's Plumbers--and the rest, as we know, is history."--Stanley I. Kutler, author of The Wars of Watergate

"So many dazzling new perspectives on events we thought we knew and a cautionary tale for here and now."--Frank Snepp, author of Decent Interval and Irreparable Harm

"The most complete, incisive and persuasive study of those documents yet published."--Floyd Abrams, co-counsel to the New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case