The Pentagon Papers: 50 Years Later

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question: Why is freedom of the press important in a democracy? 

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• abridging (p. 18)
• fortified (p. 18)
• scope (p. 19)
• profound (p. 20)
• established (p. 21)
• indiscriminately (p. 21)

3. Engage
Poll students: Is it ever OK for the U.S. government to censor the press? Ask students to share their thinking. Poll students again after the lesson. Ask students to share why they voted the same way or why they changed their response.

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the Pentagon Papers. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions:

• What two conflicting needs of a democracy are given in the first section? What reasons for favoring each are presented in the article? What is your viewpoint on how to balance those two needs? (One is a government’s need to sometimes work in secret. Reasons to favor this need include the security of battle plans and other safety issues. The other need is for citizens to be informed about the government’s actions. Reasons to favor this need include minimizing corruption in government. Opinions will vary.)

• What government secrets were revealed in the Pentagon Papers? Do you think Henry Kissinger’s concerns about their publication were reasonable? Why or why not? (The Pentagon Papers revealed that the U.S. government had propped up unpopular regimes in South Vietnam, helped plot a coup against a Vietnamese president, secretly bombed Cambodia and Laos, and misled the public about how the U.S. became entangled in Vietnam and whether the war was winnable. Opinions will vary.

• Why did the nation’s Founders add the First Amendment (as part of the Bill of Rights) to the Constitution? Do you think the Court’s ruling on publishing the Pentagon Papers reflects the Founders’ intent? (The Founders added the First Amendment because they believed that a free press is essential to holding the government accountable to the people. Opinions will vary.)

• What did the Court’s ruling establish? What did it not bar the U.S. government from doing? (The Court’s ruling established that, for the most part, the government can’t stop the publication of truthful information on matters of public concern, with some exceptions. The ruling does not bar the federal government from pressing criminal charges after publication or prosecuting leakers under the Espionage Act.)

5. Use the Primary Source

Project or distribute the PDF ‘Free to Publish’ (or assign it in Google Classroom), which features excerpts from the Supreme Court’s 1971 majority opinion in favor of the Times in The New York Times Company v. United States. Discuss what makes the opinion a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• How would you describe the tone of the first three paragraphs? How does it shift in the last paragraph? (The tone of the first three paragraphs can be described as critical of the Solicitor General’s case and even suggests that the justices were appalled by it. The tone switches in the last paragraph to be praising of the newspapers.)

• What idea about U.S. history does the majority opinion establish in the first two paragraphs? (The first two paragraphs establish the idea that freedom of the press is a founding principle of the United States. This section explains that the Bill of Rights was added to safeguard certain freedoms and alleviate concerns that the Constitution did not provide enough protections. This section then describes the part of the First Amendment that guarantees freedom of the press as “one of the great bulwarks of liberty.”)

• In paragraph 3, what does the line “I can imagine no greater perversion of history” mean? (This line means that any attempt to limit the freedom of the press would be an action that would violate to an extreme degree the founding principles of the United States.) 

• What is the main idea of the last paragraph? How does the opinion elaborate on this main idea? (The main idea of the last paragraph is that the Founders gave the press protection because they knew that a free press plays a vital role in protecting democracy. The opinion elaborates on this main idea by stating that the Founders envisioned the press serving the governed, not the government, and by pointing out that only a free press can expose corruption in a government. Then the opinion commends the newspapers for fulfilling their duty.)

• Based on the Upfront article and the excerpts from the majority opinion, how do you think the courts should rule in the Department of Justice’s case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange? Explain. (Students’ opinions will vary, but students should support their ideas with evidence from the two texts.)

6. Writing Prompt
Imagine there was no First Amendment. What are some scenarios for how history might have played out differently in relation to the choices Ellsberg, Sheehan, and the newspapers made about the Pentagon Papers?

7. Quiz
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate
Should the charges against Ellsberg have been dropped?

9. First-Person Account
Have students read Ellsberg’s memoir Secrets (or search online for an excerpt to share). Then have students discuss what the book adds to their understanding of Ellsberg’s motivation in leaking the Pentagon Papers. (Note: The book contains several instances of profanity.)