Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War

“Like many of his peers, Ellsberg was riveted by the rise of the Cold War. The global rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union intensified quickly during Ellsberg’s high school years, as Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin installed communist dictatorships in the countries of Eastern Europe, violently crushing calls for freedom in any land under his control. Ellsberg admired President Harry Truman’s response—a commitment to supporting democracies and containing Soviet influence from spreading further.”

This passage describes the effect of the Cold War on Ellsberg’s developing political ideology. During Ellsberg’s adolescence, he admired the United States’ commitment to supporting freedom around the world. This admiration inspired Ellsberg to join the Marines after college and informed his early view that the Vietnam War was a “noble battle” in the fight against communism.

“He made clear that the strikes would be limited. For months, Johnson had been assuring Americans that he had no intention of expanding the country’s role in Vietnam. As he had put it often, ‘We seek no wider war.’”

President Johnson entered the White House assuring voters that there would not be a full-scale war in Vietnam. However, at the same time, he began planning military action, knowing that the conflict would likely escalate. He kept this information from the American public, which began a pattern of secrets and lies that the US government fell into during the years of the Vietnam War.

“McNamara was blatantly misleading Congress, but aside from Morse, no other senators knew it. Some had misgivings about handing President Johnson what was practically a declaration of war, especially in such a hurry, and with such a vague idea of where things might lead. Still, most saw it as their responsibility to rally around the president.”

After the incident in the Tonkin Gulf, President Johnson presented Congress with a resolution that would grant him the authority to order attacks on Vietnam without the official declaration of war that would alarm the American public. Secretary of Defense McNamara insisted that the attack on American navy ships was unprovoked, even though he knew the ships were in the area to support South Vietnamese forces. Furthermore, there was doubt that the attack had even taken place.