Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg is a writer, lecturer and activist, best known for his role in making public The Pentagon Papers, a secret government history of the U.S. war in Vietnam. A Harvard Ph.D. in economics and former Marine rifle company commander, he worked at the Pentagon, White House, State Department and Rand Corporation before he became disillusioned with the U.S. role in Vietnam. In 1971 he gave two newspapers copies of the history, which detailed miscalculation and deceit under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and spent the next two years fighting espionage charges, which were eventually dropped. Since then Dr. Ellsberg has written and spoken widely on the dangers of the nuclear era, wrongful U.S. interventions, and the need for patriotic whistleblowing. He is the author of three books, and in 2006 was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” in Stockholm, “… for putting peace and truth first, at considerable personal risk, and dedicating his life to inspiring others to follow his example.”