The Pentagon Papers were a set of leaked documents from the United States Department of Defense about the country’s involvement with the Vietnam War. The documents were leaked by a RAND corporation employee by the name of Daniel Ellsberg. He gradually became opposed to the war in Vietnam, so he photocopied the secret report and gave his copy to the New York Times to be shown to the public. The papers, known from then on as the Pentagon Papers, were successfully published by the New York Times despite attempts from the US government to stop it, citing national security risk. Some may say that the Papers have made for a more trustworthy government today. However, evidence suggests that the publishing of these covert documents have led to an increase …show more content…
in the public’s distrust of the government. The release of the Pentagon Papers instantly made the government appear less dependable. “Published at a time when support for U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was steadily eroding, the Pentagon Papers confirmed many people’s suspicions about the active role the U.S. government had taken in building up the conflict. Though the study did not cover the policies of President Richard M. Nixon’s administration, the revelations included within it were embarrassing, particularly as Nixon was up for reelection in 1972.” (History.com). The public had their suspicions confirmed: the government was withholding information from the public eye about the war. Because of this, many people eventually began to lose their hope in the transparency of the government. Going forward, the public was more suspicious about what the government was keeping secret. The government at the time was aware about the significance of the disclosure of documents.
Nixon’s close aide, H.R. Haldeman, spoke about the influence during a covertly recorded Oval Office meeting. “‘Out of the gobbledegook comes a very clear thing,’ said Haldeman on June 14, 1971. ‘You can't trust the government, you can't believe what they say, and you can't rely on their judgment,’” (Swaine). The country’s administration knew that the leaks were going to reflect their image poorly. If the whole of America knew the entire story of the War, they would start asking themselves questions. Even the government thought it would be hard to trust the government after the …show more content…
leak. Despite them knowing the results of the Pentagon Papers investigation, the US government tried their best to cover it up.
“Ellsberg’s actions managed to institutionalize a profound paranoia in the psyche of a presidential administration, convincing the President that he would never be safe from a vast radical ‘conspiracy’ seeking to destroy him. It was this paranoia that led to the creation of the White House Special Investigations Unit. Informally referred to as the Plumbers, this unit was the ultimate manifestation of Nixon’s determination to use covert and extralegal means not only to investigate Ellsberg, but to fight back against the putative liberal ‘conspiracy.’” (Moran). The fact that the government was fighting against the leaks led to even more distrust from the public. If the leaders of the country couldn’t let this information go easily, it reinforced the idea the government was trying to keep the valuable information away from the public. As a result, citizens wondered what other information they were being kept out of
knowing. Despite their efforts to cover up the publication, the government could not stop the New York Times from publishing it. “That was the first attempt in American history by the federal government to restrain the publication of a newspaper. Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers to other newspapers in rapid succession, making it clear to the government that they would have to obtain injunctions against every newspaper in the country to stop the story.” (United States History). The sudden action taken by the US to censor the newspaper made many Americans very suspicious of their motive. Many pondered to themselves about why the government is trying so hard to stop people from knowing about the information that was leaked. A newspaper had never been censored before, so it was thought that there was desperation in the administration. The articles published by the New York Times made the public fully aware of what was going on. “Congressional Republicans generally claimed that the published material was far more damaging to the Johnson Administration and the Democrats than to the Nixon Administration. But a high official of the Nixon Administration observed that the ‘Times’ articles ‘create further confusion on the problem of Vietnam and add to the distrust of Government as a whole.’” (US News). Now that the majority of Americans knew the full story behind the Vietnam War, speculation and conspiring was widespread among the general public. This led to more questions about why the government was doing what they were. Because none or very few of these questions were answered by the government, citizens began to lose faith in their leadership. Today, Ellsberg is still sanctioning the release of classified information that could potentially end current wars. Many have tried today, but no major breakthroughs have been discovered or leaked. “Mr. Ellsberg said he wished more people would come forward to release information that could stop these wars, praising Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, the military intelligence analyst who is jailed on charges that he leaked a trove of government files to WikiLeaks.” (Cooper and Roberts). Many citizens today still don’t fully trust the government, especially on matters related to war. A lot of that distrust stems from the first release of the Pentagon Papers. The fact that the public is not sure speaks volumes about the transparency of the government today. Americans do not know if there is any information that could cease conflict, whether it be in the Middle East or other places around the globe. Currently, many are advocating for the government to release documents that relate to matters in Middle Eastern countries. “To motivate voters and Congress to extricate us from these presidential wars, we need the Pentagon Papers of the Middle East wars right now. Not 40 years in the future. Not after even two or three more years of further commitment to stalemated and unjustifiable wars.” (The Guardian). The Pentagon Papers showed the government is willing to keep information from the country’s citizens in order to conceal any controversial actions they have taken. The entire situation in the Middle East in present times creates a lot of room for speculation. Citizens do not know what the government is hiding from them, and, as a result, do not trust what the government has to say about the topic. Classified documents do pop up in news stories today, however. Many news outlets are reporting on leaked government secrets and covert documents. “Over the past year, in The Washington Post alone, the words ‘covert’ and ‘clandestine’ were used approximately 450 times. Most of these stories did not prompt a leak investigation because most involved some senior White House, intelligence, or defense official letting the story out. The Obama administration has continued the tradition of selective leaks, following every prior White House, including Richard Nixon’s, both before and after the top-secret Pentagon Papers made news.” (Priest). While this shows that some information is getting out, the government is still unwilling to be wholly transparent with Americans. The leadership of the U.S. is still keeping information from its citizens, and the trust of many reflect that. A prominent modern figure that is linked with the Pentagon Papers leak is Edward Snowden, the person who gave out information relating to the NSA and its surveillance of citizens. Today, he advocates for increased transparency in the American government. “‘We must know what the government is doing in our name and against us,’ Snowden said, ‘or else we are no longer directed by the public, we are ruled from above.’” (University of Arizona). Snowden’s thoughts on the government are alike many citizens’: one can never be sure what they are doing. Many people like Snowden are trying to make the secrecy in many administrations public for everyone to see. The Pentagon Papers have inspired many government workers in possession of private information to try to leak it to the public. For example, Thomas A. Drake is a former NSA employee who faced multiple charges of espionage for trying to expose what he thought was negligence in the Agency. “On July 15, he was sentenced to one year of probation and 240 hours of community service. Despite that outcome, the Drake case will have broad implications for the relationship between the government and the press.” (Wise). Many people believe that whistle-blowers like Drake and Snowden should be pardoned, and the act of doing such a thing should be encouraged. This goes to show how little credence the public has about the government. If an administration is hiding things, Americans want to know. The release of the Pentagon Papers has changed modern American society in many ways. The US government is seen as a more notorious organization, and many US citizens are wondering what else the government is hiding from them. In conclusion, the publication of those secretive documents has decreased the trust between the United States and the public, and has led to a more mutinous society.
The documentary entitled, Watergate Plus 30: Shadow of History, documents the political decisions and environment within the Nixon Administration from 1969-1974. The documentary specifically details and describes the environment and culture in which the Watergate scandal could occur and the events and abuses of power that lead to its occurrence. Setting the tone and the political climate of the Nixon Administration was the Vietnam War; making him a wartime President, a war that he inherited from his predecessor. The Vietnam War faced a lot of opposition from the general public, with massive protests and political demonstrations by the younger generations and overall general public. Nixon’s presidency was surrounded by this climate amidst the
The Vietnam War was the most publicized war during its era; moreover this was the most unpopular war to hit the United States. All over the country riots began to raise, anti-war movement spread all over the states begging to stop the war and chaos overseas. This truly was a failure in the political side of things. For the public, all they saw was a failed attempt in a far away country. Events such as the Tet Offensive where the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong established an all out attack on key locations around Vietnam, and although the Viet Cong was virtually wiped out, this still had a large affect psychologically on the troops as well as the populist back in the United States. Another atrocity that occurred during this war was the My Lai Massacre. This was the mass murder on unarmed civilians in South Vietnam during March 16,1968. Around November 1969, the world saw this and was outraged with the killings of innocent civilians prompting and giving the public more reasons to stop the war. Although the war was very unpopular, men and women were still fighting and dying for America. Heroes such as Captain John W, Ripley of Dong Ha, Medal of Honor recipients, and overall troops that gave the ultimate sacrifice were forgotten for a brief period. As unpopular as the war was, the American people should still know the stories and good that some of these troops had done for the United States.
The “pentagon papers”, officially titled: Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, was a U.S. government study commissioned, by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, in 1967. [Robert McNamara served under both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.] The study traced the United States involvement in Vietnam from World War II to the present. The papers were highly confidential and compiled by many sources. Groups, such as the military, universities, and private organizations, worked on portions of the study. The joint efforts created a 47-volume study; only 38 of the 47 volumes were physically produced. One of the groups which had worked on the study was RAND Corporation. An employee of Rand Corporation, Daniel Ellsberg, used his clearance to gain access to a printed copy of the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg then began secretly removing and copying volumes o...
Some historians believe that this changed the course of history, and that we can never truly trust the government again. While others believe that Nixon didn’t make the right decisions, this should not change the way the people look at our government. The government and the people need to maintain strong trust. The opposing argument believes that Richard Nixon made a turning point in history that allowed the people to turn against the government. Nobody can trust a government where the president himself does something against the law.
Nixon’s run as an international crook finally caught up to him in 1972, when burglars were caught and arrested inside the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate hotel complex in Washington. Nixon attempted to cover it up, but eventually he was found caught in his own web of lies, and was forced to resign in 1974 (Lecture 30, December 12). Nixon’s promises of a return to normalcy were shattered with these revelations. The confidence in the Presidency that he had hoped to restore was even lower than it was when he entered office. If the 1960’s were defined by political and social instability, then Richard Nixon did nothing but further the sixties into the 1970’s.
It is clear that while political scandal, primarily the 1974 Watergate scandal, played a large role in the rapidly declining confidence in government between 1968 and 1980, it is not the sole or even the dominant factor. The Watergate scandal only impacted on the Nixon era, and subsequently lead to measures that should have prevented further distrust in the government. Instead, the role played by the four presidents who held office in those years was the main reason behind the decline in confidence. The role of the presidents and their White House administrations encompassed political scandals, and also clearly influenced other factors such as the role
The National Security Agency or NSA for short is a United States federal government intelligence organization that is used for global monitoring and collecting data. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush implemented the NSA’s domestic spying program to conduct a range of surveillance activities inside the United States. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this program as it allows the NSA to tap into the public’s phone calls, cameras, internet searches, text messages, and many other mediums to seek out individuals that may be potential threats to the security of the general public. Many individuals say that the tactics used by the NSA are unconstitutional as they invade people’s privacy. This is primarily
As history shows, every war comes some sort of public opposition. There will always be pro-war and anti-war men and women across the country. In World War I, there was a major rift between the two sides. Not until civilians were being killed did President Wilson give in and join the war. Similarly, not everyone wanted to get into World War II until the Pearl Harbor bombings. The Vietnam War went differently than the previous two wars. This time, there was a huge majority public opposition to President Johnson and President Nixon’s decisions. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the Tet Offensive, and the Kent State Shootings all undermined American public support for the Vietnam War and impacted government decisions, ultimately bringing the Vietnam
President Richard M. Nixon and his involvement in the Watergate scandal were broadcast nightly on the 6 o’clock news in the early 1970’s. Americans were engrossed with the scandal and each person held his or her own view of situation. Each broadcast or newspaper article created a mistrust of political and governmental leaders. In response to this mistrust, the Freedom to Information Act was strengthened by the United States Congress in 1973 (Chamberlain). Although this act was first placed into law in the late 1960’s, the Watergate scandal provided the incentive make this law stronger.
Woodward and Bernstein print all their findings in their articles in the Washington Post. The tremendous pressure on Nixon through their in-depth articles, along with the FBI’s investigations of him and his cabinet, ultimately led to the President’s resignation.
As soon as Nixon saw the paper, he went to his Attorney General right away to stop the printing of the New York Times newspaper. Daniel Ellsberg knew that he would get arrested for making copies of the papers. He knew that it was illegal. Nixon had to do something to put Ellsberg in jail. Nixon authorized aids to go through Ellsberg’s psychiatry files to discredit him. Since the government had enough information, they put Ellsberg in jail.
Despite the national attention the Watergate scandal had gained President Nixon, he won the second term presidency. The major problem for Nixon would come later. The investigations of the Watergate scandal lead to the discovery of other criminal acts by officials including Nixon. During the investigation many things begin to surface. It was discovered that documents had been destroyed that may have made a link between Nixon and the Watergate scandal. These documents may have shown that he had some acknowledgement in what had happened. There was evidence that people involved in the Nixon campaign had been wire tapping phones illegally for a long time according to “dummies.com”. The greatest issue would come to light during the 1973 Watergate hearings. During testimonies it came to light that every conversation was recorded in the Oval office according to “study.com”. It was demanded that these tapes be reviewed to learn how much involvement President Nixon had in the Watergate burglary. The President felt that he had the right to withhold these tapes through what he referred to as executive privilege. This means that if it is the best interest of the public the president has the right to keep information from the
Everyday citizens often live unaware of their government’s inner workings. The knowing of political espionage is often too heavy of a subject to be inducted in conversation. True, prima facie, modest twists and turns of information may not be considered substantial, but this inconsideration leaves much to be uncontrolled. It is easy for political leaders to become power crazed, to not realize the massive implications that come of their actions. Only after all is said and done do the people actually realize their government is an opaque mask of deception. The Watergate Scandal substantially impacted Americans’ trust in their government.
Political leaders of the United States were, at one time, thought of as crucial members of our society. Ideally, their main goal was to represent and satisfy the needs of the American people. Unfortunately, over the last fifty years, our trust in our administrative representatives has drastically declined. Beginning with the great conspiracy theory that President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 was actually planned by political leaders, America had, for the first time in history, begun to question its faith in its very own government. Consequently, the American people became extremely hesitant when it came to electing officials into office. Despite his loss to JFK in the 1960 presidential election, in 1968, Richard M. Nixon was elected as the thirty-seventh president of the United States. He was praised by many for his comeback after previously losing an election and seemed to be an admirable man. While in office, Nixon made many achievements and followed through with all of his promises made during his campaign. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the American people had finally elected a leader who seemed unquestionably trustworthy – or so they thought. Unfortunately, shortly after Nixon was elected to his second term of presidency in 1972, the Watergate Scandal changed America forever by creating a sense of mistrust toward the government for the American people because of The Nixon Administration’s actions.
As television exposed the truth of government, so did Journalists. Daniel leaking of the Pentagon Papers that explained in detail the Vietnam War, and the leaking of the information to the New York Times in 1971. Scandals like this played an active role throughout the late 1960’s and into the early 1970’s. This eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. The critical stand point of the journalists led to the marked contradictory of American politics that grew into turbulent during the 1960s.