Ellsberg shopped the classified report around town, including to eventual 1972 Democratic Party presidential nominee George McGovern, but found no takers in government. Neil Sheehan, a former UPI war correspondent who covered defense and diplomacy for the New York Times, was another matter. Sheehan knew a good story when he saw one. So did his editors, and Sunday morning, June 13, 1971, the paper began publishing excerpts. Soon, the Washington Post would join the Times.
Among other things, the Pentagon Papers, as they came to be known, showed that the shock professed by the Kennedy administration regarding the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Diem was more than disingenuous: a top secret cable from U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge suggested that the administration was behind Diem's assassination.
As for LBJ, the papers revealed that even while deriding 1964 Republican nominee Barry Goldwater as a warmonger for advocating a greater U.S. military presence in Vietnam, the Johnson administration was already deeply into planning for a vast escalation.
From the letter below by Carl Cannon of RCP. We should be surprised at anyone who does not realize by now that the only way to be elected is to say what you think they want to hear, when that's convenient, and then do what you always intended, when that's possible.
Good morning, it's Thursday, June 13, 2013. Back at the White House after Wednesday's fundraising marathon (trips to Boston and Miami in the same day), President Obama's published schedule is a light one:
He will host Rep. John Dingell, the longest serving House member in U.S. history, at the White House; later the president will welcome gay rights activists in an East Room ceremony honoring LGBT Pride Month.
On Capitol Hill, the Senate continues debating immigration legislation. On the House floor the discussion will mainly concern the Defense Authorization Act, while the House Intelligence Committee will (behind closed doors, natch) get a briefing on the NSA spying program. This afternoon, both chambers will honor John Dingell in Statuary Hall.
As a menacing storm from the Midwest bears down on the nation's capital today, we're reminded of June 13, 1972. On that date, competing weather systems converged in the Yucatan peninsula, forming a tropical depression that soon acquired a deadly name: Hurricane Agnes.
Exactly one year earlier, on June 13, 1971, the New York Times began publication of the Pentagon Papers - an event with even more resonance today. I'll have a further word on the ramifications of that episode in a moment. First, I'd point you to our front page <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/> , which aggregates, as it does each day, an array of columns and stories spanning the political spectrum.
We also offer a nice complement of original material from our own reporters and contributors today, highlighted after a word from today's sponsor, UnitedHealthcare:
At UnitedHealthcare, we're using our experience and access to vast health care information to make health care simpler and more responsive. That's Health in Numbers. Learn more at www.uhc.com <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=64498c06cdc4ca8399398a3664fff3ad307dc2220f08b925b0210f1b71cd2acf>
* * *
Supreme Court Bingo: How Rulings Might Play Out. Sean Trende speculates <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/06/13/supreme_court_bingo_how_rulings_might_play_out_118788.html> on which justices could be writing opinions for the 22 cases outstanding in the soon-to-end term.
Asia's New Power Brokers. In RealClearWorld, Robert Kaplan writes <http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2013/06/13/asias_new_power_brokers.html> that Asian nations are forging robust relationships with each other, providing a new security dynamic to go alongside the U.S.-China rivalry.
My Fifth Grade Economic Stimulus Plan. In RealClearMarkets, Charlie Musick recalls <http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2013/06/13/my_fifth_grade_economic_stimulus_plan_100400.html> a silly proposal that, unfortunately, might sound familiar these days.
Superman vs. Secularism. RealClearReligion editor Nicholas Hahn sees <http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2013/06/13/the_superman_we_need.html> a powerful theology underpinning "The Man of Steel."
The Whittaker Chambers Haters. RealClearBooks columnist Mark Judge weighs in <http://www.realclearbooks.com/articles/2013/06/13/why_they_hate_whittaker_chambers_56.html> on a revised edition of "Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case."
The Risks of In-Car Infotainment Systems. RealClearTechnology editor Greg Scoblete reports <http://www.realcleartechnology.com/articles/2013/06/12/you_risk_your_life_using_in-car_technology_515.html> on a new study showing that voice-activated features are more distracting than talking on a cellphone while driving.
* * *
What came to be known as "The Pentagon Papers" began in June 1967, when Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara commissioned a secret study of the history of the Vietnam War. McNamara had been one of the war's architects, but this project showed that he had second thoughts fairly early in the game.
In his memoirs, McNamara claimed dubiously that his motivation was to help historians, and that it was never really that big a secret. But McNamara never mentioned the project to President Johnson or Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and he conspicuously went outside normal Pentagon channels to produce it, tapping into a vein of sympathetic scholars, many of them Harvard men.
When the report came to light, Johnson and Rusk - both out of office by then -- figured that McNamara's original intention had been to give it to Robert Kennedy for use against Johnson in the 1968 primaries. That race never materialized, but the 7,000-page report survived. It was officially called "US-Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967: History of US Decision Making Process on Vietnam Policy."
One of the former Harvard PhDs who worked on it was Daniel Ellsberg, who by 1971 had completed his metamorphosis from DOD analyst to anti-war activist. Only 15 copies of the report had been made, but Ellsberg obtained access to one of them - it was in the custody of the RAND Corp., a private contractor with many defense contracts - and he surreptitiously copied the entire report and snuck it out of RAND.
Ellsberg shopped the classified report around town, including to eventual 1972 Democratic Party presidential nominee George McGovern, but found no takers in government. Neil Sheehan, a former UPI war correspondent who covered defense and diplomacy for the New York Times, was another matter. Sheehan knew a good story when he saw one. So did his editors, and Sunday morning, June 13, 1971, the paper began publishing excerpts. Soon, the Washington Post would join the Times.
Among other things, the Pentagon Papers, as they came to be known, showed that the shock professed by the Kennedy administration regarding the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Diem was more than disingenuous: a top secret cable from U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge suggested that the administration was behind Diem's assassination.
As for LBJ, the papers revealed that even while deriding 1964 Republican nominee Barry Goldwater as a warmonger for advocating a greater U.S. military presence in Vietnam, the Johnson administration was already deeply into planning for a vast escalation.
At the White House, the initial instinct of the wily Richard Nixon was to downplay the significance of the Pentagon Papers. After all, they mostly cast the spotlight on his predecessors' perfidy, not his own. But on that fateful Sunday, Henry Kissinger forcefully argued the opposite, railing against "this wholesale theft and unauthorized disclosure."
Unfortunately for Nixon's legacy, Kissinger's argument prevailed over the president's gut feeling. The administration became obsessed with the leak and went to court to try and stop publication. When he lost in the Supreme Court, Nixon directed the men around him to find extra-judicial ways to stop leaks.
"The Plumbers" were born, along with the seeds of Watergate.
Carl M. Cannon
Washington Editor
RealClearPolitics
Twitter: @CarlCannon <https://twitter.com/CarlCannon>
<http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/wallstreet-research/reports/poll/2c-poll.php?code=X303NB62>
We update throughout the day at www.realclearpolitics.com <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/> . If you no longer wish to receive this morning missive, please type "unsubscribe" in the subject line and hit "reply" to this message.
Having trouble viewing this email? <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/newsletters/rcp_morning_note/2013/06/13/index.html> <http://www.realclearemail.com/lists/track.php?id=16910929&email=paul.eich.ctr@navy.mil>
Among other things, the Pentagon Papers, as they came to be known, showed that the shock professed by the Kennedy administration regarding the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Diem was more than disingenuous: a top secret cable from U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge suggested that the administration was behind Diem's assassination.
As for LBJ, the papers revealed that even while deriding 1964 Republican nominee Barry Goldwater as a warmonger for advocating a greater U.S. military presence in Vietnam, the Johnson administration was already deeply into planning for a vast escalation.
From the letter below by Carl Cannon of RCP. We should be surprised at anyone who does not realize by now that the only way to be elected is to say what you think they want to hear, when that's convenient, and then do what you always intended, when that's possible.
Good morning, it's Thursday, June 13, 2013. Back at the White House after Wednesday's fundraising marathon (trips to Boston and Miami in the same day), President Obama's published schedule is a light one:
He will host Rep. John Dingell, the longest serving House member in U.S. history, at the White House; later the president will welcome gay rights activists in an East Room ceremony honoring LGBT Pride Month.
On Capitol Hill, the Senate continues debating immigration legislation. On the House floor the discussion will mainly concern the Defense Authorization Act, while the House Intelligence Committee will (behind closed doors, natch) get a briefing on the NSA spying program. This afternoon, both chambers will honor John Dingell in Statuary Hall.
As a menacing storm from the Midwest bears down on the nation's capital today, we're reminded of June 13, 1972. On that date, competing weather systems converged in the Yucatan peninsula, forming a tropical depression that soon acquired a deadly name: Hurricane Agnes.
Exactly one year earlier, on June 13, 1971, the New York Times began publication of the Pentagon Papers - an event with even more resonance today. I'll have a further word on the ramifications of that episode in a moment. First, I'd point you to our front page <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/> , which aggregates, as it does each day, an array of columns and stories spanning the political spectrum.
We also offer a nice complement of original material from our own reporters and contributors today, highlighted after a word from today's sponsor, UnitedHealthcare:
At UnitedHealthcare, we're using our experience and access to vast health care information to make health care simpler and more responsive. That's Health in Numbers. Learn more at www.uhc.com <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=64498c06cdc4ca8399398a3664fff3ad307dc2220f08b925b0210f1b71cd2acf>
* * *
Supreme Court Bingo: How Rulings Might Play Out. Sean Trende speculates <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/06/13/supreme_court_bingo_how_rulings_might_play_out_118788.html> on which justices could be writing opinions for the 22 cases outstanding in the soon-to-end term.
Asia's New Power Brokers. In RealClearWorld, Robert Kaplan writes <http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2013/06/13/asias_new_power_brokers.html> that Asian nations are forging robust relationships with each other, providing a new security dynamic to go alongside the U.S.-China rivalry.
My Fifth Grade Economic Stimulus Plan. In RealClearMarkets, Charlie Musick recalls <http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2013/06/13/my_fifth_grade_economic_stimulus_plan_100400.html> a silly proposal that, unfortunately, might sound familiar these days.
Superman vs. Secularism. RealClearReligion editor Nicholas Hahn sees <http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2013/06/13/the_superman_we_need.html> a powerful theology underpinning "The Man of Steel."
The Whittaker Chambers Haters. RealClearBooks columnist Mark Judge weighs in <http://www.realclearbooks.com/articles/2013/06/13/why_they_hate_whittaker_chambers_56.html> on a revised edition of "Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case."
The Risks of In-Car Infotainment Systems. RealClearTechnology editor Greg Scoblete reports <http://www.realcleartechnology.com/articles/2013/06/12/you_risk_your_life_using_in-car_technology_515.html> on a new study showing that voice-activated features are more distracting than talking on a cellphone while driving.
* * *
What came to be known as "The Pentagon Papers" began in June 1967, when Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara commissioned a secret study of the history of the Vietnam War. McNamara had been one of the war's architects, but this project showed that he had second thoughts fairly early in the game.
In his memoirs, McNamara claimed dubiously that his motivation was to help historians, and that it was never really that big a secret. But McNamara never mentioned the project to President Johnson or Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and he conspicuously went outside normal Pentagon channels to produce it, tapping into a vein of sympathetic scholars, many of them Harvard men.
When the report came to light, Johnson and Rusk - both out of office by then -- figured that McNamara's original intention had been to give it to Robert Kennedy for use against Johnson in the 1968 primaries. That race never materialized, but the 7,000-page report survived. It was officially called "US-Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967: History of US Decision Making Process on Vietnam Policy."
One of the former Harvard PhDs who worked on it was Daniel Ellsberg, who by 1971 had completed his metamorphosis from DOD analyst to anti-war activist. Only 15 copies of the report had been made, but Ellsberg obtained access to one of them - it was in the custody of the RAND Corp., a private contractor with many defense contracts - and he surreptitiously copied the entire report and snuck it out of RAND.
Ellsberg shopped the classified report around town, including to eventual 1972 Democratic Party presidential nominee George McGovern, but found no takers in government. Neil Sheehan, a former UPI war correspondent who covered defense and diplomacy for the New York Times, was another matter. Sheehan knew a good story when he saw one. So did his editors, and Sunday morning, June 13, 1971, the paper began publishing excerpts. Soon, the Washington Post would join the Times.
Among other things, the Pentagon Papers, as they came to be known, showed that the shock professed by the Kennedy administration regarding the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Diem was more than disingenuous: a top secret cable from U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge suggested that the administration was behind Diem's assassination.
As for LBJ, the papers revealed that even while deriding 1964 Republican nominee Barry Goldwater as a warmonger for advocating a greater U.S. military presence in Vietnam, the Johnson administration was already deeply into planning for a vast escalation.
At the White House, the initial instinct of the wily Richard Nixon was to downplay the significance of the Pentagon Papers. After all, they mostly cast the spotlight on his predecessors' perfidy, not his own. But on that fateful Sunday, Henry Kissinger forcefully argued the opposite, railing against "this wholesale theft and unauthorized disclosure."
Unfortunately for Nixon's legacy, Kissinger's argument prevailed over the president's gut feeling. The administration became obsessed with the leak and went to court to try and stop publication. When he lost in the Supreme Court, Nixon directed the men around him to find extra-judicial ways to stop leaks.
"The Plumbers" were born, along with the seeds of Watergate.
Carl M. Cannon
Washington Editor
RealClearPolitics
Twitter: @CarlCannon <https://twitter.com/CarlCannon>
<http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/wallstreet-research/reports/poll/2c-poll.php?code=X303NB62>
We update throughout the day at www.realclearpolitics.com <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/> . If you no longer wish to receive this morning missive, please type "unsubscribe" in the subject line and hit "reply" to this message.
Having trouble viewing this email? <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/newsletters/rcp_morning_note/2013/06/13/index.html> <http://www.realclearemail.com/lists/track.php?id=16910929&email=paul.eich.ctr@navy.mil>
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