Synopses & Reviews
Daniel Ellsberg began his career as the coldest of cold warriors-a U. S. Marine company commander, a Pentagon analyst, and a staunch supporter of America's battle against Communist expansion. But in October 1969, Ellsberg-fully expecting to spend the rest of his life in prison-set out to turn around American foreign policy by smuggling out of his office the seven-thousand-page top-secret study, known as the Pentagon Papers, of U.S. decision making in Vietnam. Now, for the first time, Ellsberg tells the full story of how and why he became one of the nation's most impassioned and influential anti-war activists-and how his actions helped alter the course of U.S. history.
Covering the decade between his entry into the Pentagon and Nixon's resignation, Secrets is Ellsberg's meticulously detailed insider's account of the secrets and lies that shaped American foreign policy during the Vietnam era. Ellsberg provides a vivid eyewitness account of the two years he spent behind the lines in Vietnam as a State Department observer-an experience that convinced him of the hopelessness of Johnson's policies and profoundly altered his own political thinking. As Ellsberg recounts with drama and insight, the release of the Pentagon Papers, first to The New York Times and The Washington Post, set in motion a train of events that ultimately toppled a president and helped to end an unjust war.
Infused with the political passion and turmoil of the Vietnam era, Secrets is at once the memoir of a committed, daring man, an insider's exposé of Washington, and a meditation on the meaning of patriotism under a government intoxicated by keeping secrets.
About the Author
Daniel Ellsberg, a Harvard graduate, ex-Marine, and Rand Corporation analyst, was one of the "whiz kids" recruited to serve in the Pentagon during the Johnson administration. In 1971, Ellsberg made headlines around the world when he released the Pentagon Papers. He is now a prominent speaker, writer, and activist.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Preface, vii
PART I
Prologue: Vietnam 1961, 3
1. The Tonkin Gulf: August 1964, 7
2 . Cold Warrior, Secret Keeper, 21
3. The Road to Escalation, 48
4. Planning Provocation, 65
5. "Off the Diving Board": July 1965, 88
6. Joining the Foreign Legion, 98
7. Vietnam: The Lansdale Team, 102
8. Travels with Vann, 109
9. Losing Hope, 126
10. Rach Kien, 143
11. Leaving Vietnam, 169
PART II
12. Jaundice, 181
13. The Power of Truth, 199
14. Campaign '68, 215
15. To the Hotel Pierre, 226
16. The Morality of Continuing the War, 246
17. War Resisters, 262
18. Extrication, 274
19. Murder and the Lying Machine, 286
PART III
20. Copying the Papers, 299
21. The Rand Letter, 310
22. Capitol Hill, 323
23. Leaving Rand, 330
24. Kissinger, 343
25. Congress, 356
26. To the New York Times, 365
27. May Day 1971, 376
28. Approaching June 13, 382
29. Going Underground, 387
PART IV
30. The War Goes On, 413
31. The Road to Watergate, 422
32. End of a Trial, 444
Acknowledgments, 459
Notes, 461
Works Cited, 471
Index, 477