Pentagon Papers Timeline

(1945–1971)

The Pentagon Papers were a classified 7,000-page U.S. Department of Defense study that revealed how successive administrations expanded and misrepresented American involvement in Vietnam. More Less

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Origins and Vietnam policy

U.S. aid to France in Indochina begins

1950

Under President Harry S. Truman, the United States began aiding France and the associated State of Vietnam against the communist-led Viet Minh during the First Indochina War.

Image source: First Indochina War

Geneva settlement and U.S. intervention

1954

Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the United States supported the fledgling South under the State of Vietnam and covertly undermined the communist North, playing what the Pentagon Papers described as a direct role in the ultimate breakdown of the Geneva settlement.

Image source: 1954 Geneva Conference

U.S. support for Diem consolidates South Vietnam

1955 - 1956

The Pentagon Papers concluded that without U.S. support, Ngo Dinh Diem almost certainly could not have consolidated his hold on South Vietnam during 1955 and 1956.

Image source: Ngo Dinh Diem

South Vietnam refuses scheduled elections

1956

According to the study, without the threat of U.S. intervention, South Vietnam could not have refused to discuss the elections called for under the Geneva settlement without being immediately overrun by Viet Minh forces.

Image source: 2020 United States presidential election

Kennedy administration knows of coup plans

1963

The Pentagon Papers stated that the Kennedy administration knew of plans to overthrow South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem before his death in the November 1963 coup.

Image source: 1963 South Vietnamese coup d'état

United States authorizes support for the coup

Aug 1963

The study reported that beginning in August 1963, the United States variously authorized, sanctioned, and encouraged coup efforts by Vietnamese generals and offered full support for a successor government.

U.S. representative meets coup planners

Aug 23, 1963

As early as August 23, 1963, an unnamed U.S. representative met with Vietnamese generals who were planning a coup against Ngo Dinh Diem.

Diem is assassinated in the coup

Nov 1963

The 1963 South Vietnamese coup, in which Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated, became a central example in the Pentagon Papers of U.S. involvement in South Vietnamese political affairs.

Johnson plans wider war before the election

1964

The Pentagon Papers indicated that President Johnson had plans to bomb North Vietnam well before the 1964 presidential election, even while campaigning with the promise that the United States sought no wider war.

Image source: Lyndon B. Johnson

Gulf of Tonkin incident

Aug 2, 1964

The Gulf of Tonkin incident became a major turning point in the escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and was later examined in the Pentagon Papers.

Image source: Gulf of Tonkin incident

Bundy warns against immediate provocations

Sep 1964

Barely a month after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy warned that further provocations should not be undertaken until October, when the South Vietnamese government would be prepared for full-scale war against North Vietnam.

Image source: McGeorge Bundy

Underlying rationale emphasizes containing China

Jan 1965

A memorandum by Assistant Secretary of Defense John McNaughton stated that an underlying justification for the Vietnam effort was not to help a friend, but to contain China.

Image source: Pentagon Papers

McNamara describes China as a major threat

Nov 3, 1965

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara sent President Lyndon B. Johnson a memorandum explaining major policy decisions in Vietnam. It portrayed China as a major power threatening U.S. importance and effectiveness and potentially seeking to organize Asia against the United States.

Image source: Robert McNamara

Compiling the study

Ellsberg works on the study

1967

Daniel Ellsberg worked on the study for several months in 1967. He had previously served as an aide to John McNaughton from 1964 to 1965.

Image source: Daniel Ellsberg

Gelb takes direction of the study

1967

After McNaughton's death, Defense Department official Les Gelb directed the continuing project that became the Pentagon Papers.

McNaughton dies during the project

Jun 1967

John McNaughton died in a plane crash one month after work began on the Vietnam Study Task Force, but the project continued.

Vietnam Study Task Force is created

Jun 17, 1967

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara created the Vietnam Study Task Force to write an encyclopedic history of the Vietnam War.

McNamara leaves the Defense Department

Feb 1968

Robert McNamara left the Department of Defense in February 1968 while the Vietnam history project was still being completed.

Ellsberg accesses the study at RAND

1969

Les Gelb and Morton Halperin approved Daniel Ellsberg's access to the Pentagon Papers at the RAND Corporation in 1969.

Gelb presents the study to McNamara

Jan 1, 1969 - Mar 31, 1969

Gelb later said that he presented the study to McNamara in early 1969, when McNamara was president of the World Bank, although McNamara did not read it then.

Clifford receives the finished study

Jan 15, 1969

Defense Secretary Clark Clifford received the finished study on January 15, 1969, five days before Richard Nixon's inauguration. Clifford later claimed that he never read it.

Image source: Clark Clifford

Leak and publication

Ellsberg and Russo photocopy the study

Oct 1969

Opposing the war, Daniel Ellsberg and his friend Anthony Russo photocopied the study in October 1969 with the intention of disclosing it.

Ellsberg discusses the Papers with Sheehan

Feb 1971

Ellsberg discussed the Pentagon Papers with New York Times reporter Neil Sheehan in February 1971.

Ellsberg gives volumes to Sheehan

Mar 2, 1971

On March 2, Ellsberg gave 43 volumes of the study to Neil Sheehan, enabling The New York Times to prepare its publication series.

The New York Times begins publication

Jun 13, 1971

The New York Times began publishing excerpts on its front page. The first article was titled “Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces Three Decades of Growing US Involvement.”

The Washington Post begins publication

Jun 18, 1971

The Washington Post began its own series based on portions Ellsberg had given to former RAND colleague and Post reporter Ben Bagdikian in a Boston-area motel earlier that week.

Legal and public legacy

Mitchell seeks an injunction

Jun 1971

U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell sought an injunction to stop The New York Times from publishing additional Pentagon Papers material.

Image source: New York Times Co. v. United States

Supreme Court rejects prior restraint

Jun 30, 1971

The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that the government had failed to meet the heavy burden of proof required to impose a prior-restraint injunction against publication.

Image source: New York Times Co. v. United States

House committee version makes disputed words public

1972

A version of documents released by the House Armed Services Committee made public the 11 words involved in a later dispute, rendering the issue moot, although the government declined to identify the words.

Popkin is jailed over grand jury questions

Mar 1972

Political scientist Samuel L. Popkin was jailed for a week for refusing to answer questions before a grand jury investigating the Pentagon Papers case.

Nixon administration misconduct causes mistrial

May 11, 1973

Federal District Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. declared a mistrial and dismissed all charges against Ellsberg and Russo after revelations of illegal break-ins, attempted influence over the judge, illegal wiretapping, and other irregularities.

Halperin obtains unpublished portions

1983

Morton Halperin, who had originally classified the study as secret, obtained most of the unpublished portions under the Freedom of Information Act. The University of Texas published them in 1983.

New York Times assesses the Papers

1996

A 1996 New York Times article said the Pentagon Papers demonstrated that the Lyndon B. Johnson administration had systematically lied not only to the public but also to Congress.

University of Texas publishes McNamara memoir

1996

Robert McNamara's 1996 work is associated with later public discussion and interpretation of the Vietnam policy record examined by the Pentagon Papers.

National Security Archive publishes remaining portions

2002

The National Security Archive published the remaining portions of the Pentagon Papers in 2002.

The Pentagon Papers television film is released

2003

The Pentagon Papers, directed by Rod Holcomb and executive produced by Joshua D. Maurer, was a historical film made for FX about the Papers and Daniel Ellsberg's involvement in their publication.

The Most Dangerous Man in America is released

2009

The Oscar-nominated documentary, directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, followed Daniel Ellsberg and explored the events leading to publication of the Pentagon Papers.

Image source: The Most Dangerous Man in America

The Most Dangerous Man in America is released

Panel discusses the Pentagon Papers

Sep 13, 2010

The New York Times Community Affairs Department and POV presented a panel discussion on the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, and The New York Times.

Papers are announced for declassification

May 4, 2011

The National Archives and Records Administration announced that the Pentagon Papers would be declassified and released to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum on June 13, 2011.

Pentagon Papers are publicly released

Jun 2011

The documents forming the Pentagon Papers were declassified and publicly released in June 2011, ending their formal classification.

The Post dramatizes the publication saga

2017

Steven Spielberg's historical drama The Post portrayed The Washington Post's role in the Pentagon Papers saga.

Image source: The Post (film)

The Post dramatizes the publication saga