Daniel Ellsberg, once known as the most dangerous man in America, is best known for being the whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers, hastening the end to the Vietnam War and figuring into the impeachment of President Nixon. He is a speaker, writer, and activist on the dangers of the nuclear era, wrongful military interventions, and the need for patriotic whistleblowing.
Daniel Ellsberg began his career as a U.S. Marine before earning his Ph.D. in Economics at Harvard University. He was a strategic analyst at the RAND Corporation and a consultant to the Defense Department and the White House. Ellsberg specialized in crisis decision making and control of nuclear weapons and worked at both the Defense Department and the State Department during the Vietnam War years.
Ellsberg participated in the top secret McNamara study of US Decision making in Vietnam, or what was known as the Pentagon Papers. In 1969 Ellsberg photocopied the study and distributed it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as well as 19 newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. He stood trial, but his case was dismissed in 1973 on grounds of governmental misconduct against him. Ellsberg’s whistleblowing led to convictions of several White House aides and was fundamental in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon.
Daniel Ellsberg has written three books and continues to be an outspoken supporter of whistleblowers and a free press.