1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey y'all, I'm Eves and welcome to This 3 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a podcast that brings you a 4 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: tip bit of history every day. And if I sound 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: any different, it's because I am no longer recording from 6 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: the closet that was my unofficial studio for a minute. Um, 7 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: I moved, which required me to switch at the set up. 8 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: But as we all know here as history enthusiasts, change 9 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: is inevitable. On that note, I wanted to also take 10 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: a moment to acknowledge the huge moment of change that 11 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: we are currently living in, from COVID to the demonstrations 12 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: that began in response to the murder of George Floyd 13 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: by a police officer. It's literally a moment for the 14 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: history books. And if you've been listening to the show 15 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: for a while, you probably know that I think it 16 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: is deeply important to cover the history of black people 17 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: around the world. And you also probably know that I 18 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: care about covering the history of social movements, black protests, 19 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: and of resistance generally, and black lives matter to me 20 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: forever and for always. I hope that y'all can look 21 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: back on some of the episodes that we've done in 22 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: the past on black revolutionaries, organizers, artists, and uprising, as 23 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: well as the episodes that detailed the injustices that black 24 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: folks have faced because of racism. To gain some perspective 25 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: and some context and to develop informed opinions, I hope 26 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: that you'll find a way to take action, and you 27 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 1: can find resources online on how to help the efforts 28 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: against police brutality and racism. You can protest, you can 29 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: donate to the families of people affected by police brutality, 30 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: and you can donate to bail funds. If that's not 31 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: something that you can do, you can also share anti 32 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: racist resources and you can do things like have hard 33 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: conversations with people who you care about. You have the tools, 34 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: so stay safe out there, y'all be bold and don't 35 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: be afraid to learn and unlearn. Out let's get into 36 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: today's episode. Today is June. The day was June thirteenth, 37 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:19,239 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one. The New York Times began publishing excerpts 38 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: from the Pentagon Papers. The Pentagon Papers, officially called the 39 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam 40 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: Task Force, contain a history of US political and military 41 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: involvement in Southeast Asia from nine to nineteen sixty seven. 42 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: In June two th eleven, the complete report was declassified 43 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: and released to the public. In nineteen sixty seven, U 44 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,799 Speaker 1: s Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara commissioned a report on 45 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: the history of the Vietnam War. The exact reasons McNamara 46 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: commissioned the report are unclear and remain a subject of debate. 47 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: McNamara claimed that he wanted a written record of the 48 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: US's involvement in Southeast Asia to preserve for scholars. Neither 49 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: President Lyndon Johnson nor Secretary of State Dean Rusk believed 50 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: that claim. Some people believe that McNamara ordered the report 51 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: to help Robert Kennedy get the Democratic presidential nomination in 52 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight. Regardless, the study was completed in nineteen 53 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: sixty nine. It was made up of seven thousand pages 54 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: bound into forty seven volumes that included three thousand pages 55 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: of historical studies and four thousand pages of government documents. 56 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: Fifteen copies of the report were made. Some of the 57 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: people involved were concerned about the paper being destroyed or leaked. 58 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: At the time, the federal government classified the Pentagon Papers 59 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: as top secret, but Daniel Ellsberg, who had worked at 60 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: a think tank called the Rand Corporation, contributed to the study. 61 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: He opposed the Vietnam War. The report revealed that US 62 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: involvement was greater than the government had acknowledged. Among many 63 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: other topics, it addressed the overthrow of South Vietnam President 64 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: Go Dandem, the build up of US forces in Vietnam, 65 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: and the Johnson administration's response to pressures for negotiations. With 66 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: the help of his former colleague Anthony Russo, Ellsberg photocopy 67 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: the report. When he took the info to the National 68 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: Security Advisor and U S Senators, they refused to hold 69 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: hearings on the papers, so he took the report to 70 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: Neil she Han, a New York Times reporter. The New 71 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: York Times was the first paper to publish parts of 72 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: the Pentagon Papers, starting on June thirteenth nine. The first 73 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: article published was titled Vietnam Archive Pentagon Study traces three 74 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: decades of growing US involvement In it. Sheen said that 75 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: the study quote demonstrates that four administrations progressively developed a 76 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: sense of commitment to a non communist Vietnam, a readiness 77 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: to fight the North, to protect the South, and an 78 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: ultimate frustration with this effort to a much greater extent 79 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: than their public statements acknowledged at the time, The Times 80 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: published three articles about the study in two days. A 81 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: federal court injunction forced the paper to stop publishing the articles, 82 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: but soon the Washington Post began publishing articles on the 83 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: Pentagon Papers, and on June, the Supreme Court decided that 84 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: the injunctions the Nixon administration sought against those publishing the 85 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: papers were unconstitutional prior restraint. Ellsberg and Russo were charged 86 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: with conspiracy, misappropriation of government property, and violations of the 87 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: Espionage Act, but the charges were later dismissed due to 88 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:38,160 Speaker 1: investigations that took place during Nixon's Watergate scandal. The release 89 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,479 Speaker 1: of the Pentagon Papers incited international controversy over US actions 90 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: in Southeast Asia. In two thousand eleven, the entire study 91 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: was declassified and released with no redactions. I'm eh Jefco 92 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 93 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. And as always, if you have 94 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: any comment source suggestions, you can send them to us 95 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: at this day at I heart media dot com. You 96 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: can also hit us up on social media on Facebook, Twitter, 97 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: or Instagram. We're at t D I HC podcast. Thanks 98 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: again for listening to the show and we'll see you tomorrow. 99 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:21,799 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 100 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 101 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: favorite shows.