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

This process is what led to the Pentagon Papers, and allowing it to be criminalized in the way that it was against Villarreal would make the service of journalism impossible.

From Slate • Mar. 26, 2026

That president was Richard Nixon, and that whistleblower was Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers to reporters and ranked near the top of Nixon's infamous enemies list.

From Salon • Dec. 15, 2024

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

In Washington later that day, a judge barred the Washington Post from printing any more Pentagon Papers stories until the court could rule on the government’s case against the paper.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin