Pentagon Papers
The
Pentagon Papers is a seven-thousand-page top-secret
United States Department of Defense history of the
United States involvement in the
Vietnam War from
1945 to
1971. The Pentagon Papers was leaked in
1971 by Department of Defense worker
Daniel Ellsberg. It was published as a series of
New York Times articles beginning
June 13. A complete edition was published by U. S. Senator
Mike Gravel of Alaska.
The document revealed, among other things that the government had planned to go to Vietnam even when president Lyndon Johnson was promising not to, and that there was no plan to end the war. The document increased belief in the credibility gap, hurting the war effort. It is also noteworthy as a test of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
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