The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Dr.Docs' Take

I have a deep soft spot for the person who wrecks their own career to hand you the truth, and Daniel Ellsberg is the patron saint of the type. In 1971 this Pentagon insider photocopied seven thousand pages of top secret Vietnam documents, page by nervous page, then handed them to the press knowing it could land him in prison for the rest of his life. What he exposed was simple and damning: the government had been lying about the war for years, and had the files to prove it. Watch this as the origin story of every leak that followed, Snowden included, because Ellsberg wrote the playbook first.

The Most Dangerous Man in America tells how Daniel Ellsberg, a senior Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, leaked 7,000 pages of top secret documents in 1971. Convinced the war rested on decades of official lies, he handed the Pentagon Papers to the press in a bid to help end it. The film follows his transformation from insider to whistleblower and the legal firestorm that followed. It is a landmark account of conscience, secrecy, and the price of telling the truth. Free to watch in HD on Dr Documentary.

Courtesy of Documentary on YouTube. Watch on YouTube ↗

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