Summary

Henry Kissinger said that Daniel Ellsberg was the most dangerous man in America and should be stopped at any cost. But Ellsberg’s story started long before Kissinger uttered those words. After graduating from Harvard, Daniel Ellsberg joined the Marines and served as lieutenant. After his tour of duty, he obtained his PhD in Economics and worked for the Rand Corporation. He was attached to the Pentagon where he was attached to Assistant Secretary of Defense John McNaughton’s staff to do research on the growing problems in Vietnam.

One afternoon while McNaughton was meeting with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, an urgent message was handed over to Ellsberg. The message from Captain Herrick, commander of the U.S. destroyers in the Tonkin Bay, reported that the U.S. was under torpedo attack. McNamara received the same cables and reported...