Daniel Ellsberg [1931-2023] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

A native of Chicago, raised in Detroit, Michigan, Daniel Ellsberg served as a company commander in the Marine Corps for two years, then completed a doctorate in economics at Harvard University in 1962. He joined the RAND Corporation's Economics Department as an analyst, and in 1964 was recruited to serve inside the Pentagon under Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Following two years in VietNam for the State Department, Ellsberg eventually returned to RAND.
At RAND, Ellsberg discovered documents that proved that the involvement of the U.S. in the war in VietNam was deliberately escalated, counter to the government's public statements. Unable to convince sypathetic U.S. Senators to reveal the documents on the Senate floor, Ellsberg, with the assistance of Anthony Russo, copied (the 7,000 pages took a full year to copy) and finally leaked the documents to Neil Sheehan at The New York Times. The newspaper made headlines around the world in June 1971 when the 'Pentagon Papers' – a 7,000-page, top-secret study of decision-making about VietNam – were released to the public through The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Heroic 'whistle-blower' Ellsberg's release of the Pentagon Papers set in motion a chain of events that included a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, the arrest and trial of Ellsberg, the crimes of Watergate, and the end of the Nixon presidency and of the VietNam War. The charges against Ellsberg were dismissed in 1973 after it was discovered that President Nixon had authorized White House aides to burglarize Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office in an attempt to discredit Ellsberg. Conspirator Charles Colson was convicted in the Ellsberg burglary, serving seven months in prison; fellow conspirators John Ehrlichman and G. Gordon Liddy were convicted only in connection with the WaterGate burglary.

91-year-old Ellsberg announced in March 2023 that his doctors diagnosed inoperable pancreatic cancer and give him 3-6 months to live; he died in June at age 92.

	"The Pentagon Papers: The Defense Department History of United States Decisionmaking On Vietnam (4 Volumes)" [1971] Compiled by Sen. Mike Gravel The Federal Government succeeded in blocking publication of even newspaper synopses and brief excerpts from the secret Pentagon Papers. Senator Mike Gravel [Dem-Alaska] had recently received copies of 4,100 pages of the Pentagon Papers, and on the night of 29 June 1971, he convened a special meeting of his Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds and entered those pages into the official record of the subcommittee. 2,553-page Beacon Press 10x6 pb in 4 volumes [6/71] out of print/used 2,899-page Beacon Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [6/71] out of print/used
	"The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of The Vietnam War" [1971] by Neil Sheehan, Herick Smith, E.W. Kenworthy & Fox Butterfield 'Complete and unabridged' text of the articles in The New York Times by Neil Sheehan and his team – 'with key documents and 64 pages of photographs' 677-page Bantam Books mass pb [7/71] out of print/used 677-page Bantam Books mass pb [7/71] out of print/many used see 12/2017 re-issue below
	"The Pentagon Papers: As Published By The New York Times" [1971] 810-page book with all of the verbatim text published from the secret documents, ten chapter/articles by the N.Y. Times reporter team, transcripts of the court proceedings of N.Y. Times v. United States, 60 pages of photographs, glossary, and 32-page index Quadrangle Books hardcover [7/71] out of print/used
	"The Pentagon Papers (Abridged)" [1993] Edited by George C. Herring 224-page McGraw-Hill 8¼x5½ pb [1/93] out of print/used
	"The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of The War in Vietnam" for Kindle [2010] this is the 4-volume Gravel version, in 2,845 pages Kindle Edition from Red and Black Publrs [1/2010] for $9.99
	"Pentagon Papers: Recently Abridged Edition For The Millennial Generation" for Kindle [2013] by J-Power Not much here: the 7,000 pages of the original copies were edited down to 3,000 for the public by Senator Gravel, which are here shrunk down to 96 pages! Kindle Edition from PowerPlayz Publng [12/2013] for $4.99
	"The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of The Vietnam War" [1971 & 2017] by Neil Sheehan, Herick Smith, E.W. Kenworthy & Fox Butterfield, 2017 Foreword by James L. Greenfield 'Complete and unabridged' text of the articles in The New York Times by Neil Sheehan and his team – 'with key documents and 64 pages of photographs' Kindle Edition from Racehorse Publng [12/2017] for $9.17 848-page Racehorse Publng 8½x5½ pb [12/2017] for $15.55 publisher bookpage

"The Post" [Fox/Amblin Ent. Dec 2017]

Steven Spielberg's 'The Post' 2017 movie starring Tom Hanks & Meryl Streep

Working title: 'The Papers' • 'Inspired by true events': A cover-up spanning four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalism and government.
Co-produced & directed by Steven Spielberg; co-produced & written by Liz Hannah & Josh Singer; music by John Williams; starring Tom Hanks {as Ben Bradlee}, Bob Odenkirk, Meryl Streep {as Kay Graham}, Jesse Plemons, David Cross {as Howard Simons}, Alison Brie, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Stuhlbarg, Matthew Rhys {as Daniel Ellsberg}, Sarah Paulson, Bradley Whitford, Tracy Letts, Zach Woods, Carrie Coon, Curzon Dobell {as Richard Nixon}; won AFI Award for Best Movie of the Year
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available •
full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia
watch 11/2017 official trailer [2:32] online at YouTube

	"Risk, Ambiguity, and Decision" [2001] by Daniel Ellsberg Routledge 9¼x6¼ hardcover [3/2001] for $65.00
	"Wild Man: The Life & Times of Daniel Ellsberg" [2001] by Tom Wells Palgrave Macmillan 9x6 pb [10/2009] for $40.50 Palgrave Macmillan 9¾x6¼ hardcover [6/2001] out of print/40+ used
	"Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam & The Pentagon Papers" [2002] by Daniel Ellsberg listed in 'L.A. Times 100 Best Books of 2002'; won PEN Center West Award for 'Best Creative Non-Fiction 2002' Kindle Edition from Penguin Books [2003 edition] for $12.99 Penguin Books 5½x8½ pb [9/2003] for $12.06 Viking 9½x6½ hardcover [10/2002] out of print/used
	"The Pentagon Papers" [Paramount TV special March 2003] An analyst for RAND Corp. and the U.S. government who supports the war in VietNam becomes disillusioned when he discovers classified Defense Dept. documents that detail the deliberate fabrication of reasons to go to war in Southeast Asia. Convinced that the American people deserve to know the truth, he risks his career, his freedom, and even his life to expose the duplicity of the U.S. war machine. Directed by Rod Holcomb; script by Jason Horwitch; starring James Spader, Claire Forlani, Paul Giamatti, Alan Arkin, Kenneth Welsh, Maria del Mar, Sean McCann, James Downing, Richard Fitzpatrick & Jonas Chernick; script won WGA's Paul Selvin Honorary Award • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia Paramount color DVD [2/2004] for $10.25
	"The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg and The Pentagon Papers" [First Run Features Feb 2010] A former Pentagon insider, armed only with his conscience, steadfast determination, and a file cabinet full of classified documents, decided to challenge the imperial Nixon Presidency, and subsequent events surrounding the so-called Pentagon Papers led directly to WaterGate and the downfall of President Nixon, and hastened the end of the Vietnam War; 92-minute documentary features principals on both sides and declassified audiotapes of President Nixon and his inner circle of advisors • Co-produced, co-written & co-directed by Judith Ehrlich & Rick Goldsmith; Oscar nomination for Best Feature Docu-mentary; won a Peabody Award First Run Features color DVD [2/2010?] for $16.92 full credits at IMDb • official movie site

'Shadows of Liberty' 2012 documentary feature

"Shadows of Liberty" documentary feature [Docfactory/First Hand Films 2012]
The 'new media' monopoly by corporations in America versus the public battle for truth & democracy is a media crisis at the core of today's most troubling issues, and people everywhere are taking action, trying to change the media monopolies' strangle-hold on information • Co-produced by Kemal Akhtar & Tony Tabatznik; co-produced, co-written & directed by Jean-Philippe Tremblay; co-produced & co-written by Daniel Cantagallo; based on the 1983/2004 book "The Media Monopoly" by Ben Bagdikian; featuring Julian Assange (Wikileaks), Robert Baer, Kristina Borjesson, Daniel Ellsberg, Jeff Cohen (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), TV journalist Amy Goodman, comedian/activist Dick Gregory, journalist Chris Hedges, Janine Jackson, John MacArthur, Robert McChesney, journalist John Nichols, Dan Rather, David Simon, Norman Solomon; with archive footage of Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, Ahmed Chlabi, Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Al Gore Jr., Sean Hannity, Saddam Hussein, Kevin Martin, James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch, Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Michael Powell, Charlie Rose, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, journalist Gary Webb
full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia
Icarus Films color DVD [4/2016] for $24.98

Family & Friends
Daniel Ellsberg was born in Chicago in 1931; he released copies of the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times
and the Washington Post and 17 other newspapers in June 1971. He died of pancreatic cancer in June 2023 at age 92.

first wife Carol Cummings Ellsberg (divorced)
son Robert Ellsberg [b. 1955]
daughter Mary Ellsberg

second wife Patricia Marx Ellsberg, married 1970
son Michael Ellsberg [b. 1977] • official website

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	"The Day The Presses Stopped: A History of The Pentagon Papers Case" [1996] by David Rudenstine Univ California Press 8½x5½ pb [7/98] for $38.95 Univ California Press 9½x6½ hardcover [6/96] out of print/used
	"Inside The Pentagon Papers" [2004] Edited by John Prados & Margaret Pratt Porter Univ Press of Kansas 9¼x6¼ pb [5/2004] for $16.39 Univ Press of Kansas 9½x6½ hardcover [5/2004] out of print/used

Spirit of America Bookstore Daniel Ellsberg[1931-2023]

Spirit of America Bookstore
Daniel Ellsberg
[1931-2023]