June 13, 1971: The Pentagon Papers Are Published

June 13, 1971: The New York Times and The Washington Post publish The History of U.S. Decision-Making in Vietnam, 1945–1968. The document becomes known as The Pentagon Papers.

Written up by the U.S. Department of defense, it was considered classified. Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst for the RAND Corporation who worked on the document, thought it important enough to leak them to the press.

One thing the document made clear was that the Administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson -- in office from November 22, 1963 to January 20, 1969 -- "systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress."

The Pentagon Papers revealed that the U.S. had secretly enlarged the scope of its actions in the Vietnam War, with coastal raids on North Vietnam and Marine Corps attacks, none of which were reported in the mainstream media.

For his disclosure of the Pentagon Papers, Ellsberg was initially charged with conspiracy, espionage, and theft of government property. Those charges were later dismissed.

Although it was the Johnson Administration that looked bad as a result of the document's text, the next and current President, Richard Nixon, fought hard to keep it from being made public, since they thought it would undermine support for the war. Nixon officials pressured the Times and the Post not to publish it. They did so, anyway, and support for the war, already having slipped to a minority status in America, slipped further.

The articles were published a little at a time, over a few days, until the Administration filed suit to stop it. On June 30, in New York Times Co. v. United States, in a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Administration was violating the papers' rights of freedom of the press, as guaranteed by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and the publication resumed until its completion. The papers would later collaborate on a paperback collection.

Nixon was a pioneer, inventing the Republican Party strategy of, when being faced with something that makes them look bad, rather than changing their behavior, they actively attempt to discredit the messenger. On September 3, 1971, Nixon sent some "Plumbers," so named because they "prevented leaks," to rob the office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, Ellsberg's psychiatrist.

Daniel Ellsberg

The burglary was conducted by G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, Eugenio Martinez, Bernard Barker and Felipe de Diego. They found Ellsberg's file, but it apparently did not contain the potentially embarrassing information they sought, as they left it discarded on the floor of Fielding's office.

This burglary turned out to be a warmup for the action for which the Plumbers unit would become best known: Martinez and Barker would go on to become 2 of the 5 "Watergate Burglars."

Harry Blackmun was the last Justice from New York Times Co. v. U.S., serving until 1994. Byron White was the last surviving Justice, living until 2002. As of June 13, 2022, Daniel Ellsberg is still alive. (UPDATE: Ellsberg died on June 16, 2023, at the age of 92.)

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June 13, 1971 was a Sunday -- published on that day of the week to guarantee their papers' maximum readership. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Fritz Peterson outpitched John "Blue Moon" Odom. Roy White went 3-for-3 with a walk and 3 RBIs. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. Willie Mays went 1-for-4 with a walk. Ken Singleton drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning, scoring Bud Harrelson. Tug McGraw was the winning pitcher, in relief of Gary Gentry. Juan Marichal started for the Giants.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 7-1 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-8 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mike Cuellar outpitched Tommy John. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3. Frank Robinson did not play.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Sam McDowell pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 2-for-4. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-1 with 3 walks. Rod Carew went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Lee May singled Pete Rose home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. Johnny Bench did not play. Fergie Jenkins went the distance for the Cubs, but lost.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Pirates won it with 5 runs in the top of the 9th inning, including a home run from Richie Hebner, off Chuck Taylor, who had relieved Steve Carlton. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-1 with 3 walks.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 9-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Pat Jarvis pitched a 5-hit shutout. Earl Williams hit 2 home runs. Hank Aaron hit a home run, the 611th of his career.

* The Washington Senators beat the California Angels, 5-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).