Pentagon Papers

Cultural  

1. A classified study of the Vietnam War that was carried out by the Department of Defense. An official of the department, Daniel Ellsberg, gave copies of the study in 1971 to the New York Times and Washington Post. The Supreme Court upheld the right of the newspapers to publish the documents. In response, President Richard Nixon ordered some members of his staff, afterward called the “plumbers,” to stop such “leaks” of information. The “plumbers,” among other activities, broke into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist, looking for damaging information on him.

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Example Sentences

The series compellingly addresses the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the baseless claims of William Westmoreland about impending victory, and the leaking of the Pentagon Papers.

From Slate • Apr. 30, 2025

More than fifty years ago, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black also recognized the importance of that freedom after a leak of the Vietnam-era Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and Washington Post.

From Salon • Apr. 29, 2025

The hotel, on West 54th Street, was where journalists examined the Pentagon Papers and where Donald Trump delivered a 2016 victory speech.

From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2024

Watergate originally sprang from Nixon’s vendetta against Daniel Ellsberg, whom he was determined to embarrass for exposing the Pentagon Papers.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2024

Nixon tried to block further publication of the Pentagon Papers through the courts, but he lost.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge