On June 13, 1971, The New York Times began publishing excerpts from a 7,000-page classified Defense Department study titled “History of U.S. Decision-Making in Vietnam, 1945-1968”—soon known as the Pentagon Papers. Leaked by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg, the documents revealed that …
Daniel EllsbergNew York TimesWashington PostPresident Richard NixonSecretary of Defense Robert McNamara+2 moregovernment-deceptionmilitary-industrial-complexwhistleblowerpress-freedomvietnam-war
The term “credibility gap” enters widespread use to describe the growing disconnect between the Johnson administration’s optimistic public statements about Vietnam War progress and the grim reality experienced by soldiers and reporters in the field. The New York Herald Tribune …
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamaraPresident Lyndon B. JohnsonSenator J. William FulbrightDepartment of Defensegovernment-deceptionmilitary-industrial-complexinstitutional-corruptionpropagandasystematic-corruption
Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution with near-unanimous support (416-0 in the House, 88-2 in the Senate), granting President Johnson broad war powers to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war. The resolution responds to reported attacks on U.S. Navy …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonSecretary of Defense Robert McNamaraNational Security AgencyU.S. Congressmilitary-industrial-complexwar-profiteeringgovernment-deceptioninstitutional-captureintelligence-manipulation