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Daniel Ellsberg born 1931
Walter Cronkite 1916–2009
Mild-mannered political scientist Daniel Ellsberg was at the heart of the contentious Pentagon Papers incident during the Vietnam War. Ellsberg worked for the Rand Corporation, a defense "think tank," and for the Defense Department -- service that included two years in Vietnam. In 1967 he began working on a Pentagon project compiling a secret history of the Vietnam War using classified documents. As he studied the war, Ellsberg became increasingly disillusioned with American foreign policy, and in an act of conscience he released the secret report to the New York Times in 1971. The government sought to suppress publication and the issue quickly became one of press freedom. It also sought to prosecute Ellsberg on charges of espionage; these were dismissed in a 1973 trial.
David Marlin's photograph shows Ellsberg with the iconic American newsman Walter Cronkite, probably the most trusted public figure of his time. It was taken when Ellsberg was eluding capture by federal authorities while leaking the Pentagon Papers.
David Marlin, 1971 |