Daniel Ellsberg, Political Activist Who Leaked The Pentagon Papers, Dies at 92

Daniel Ellsberg, American political activist and former U.S. military analyst, died Friday, June 16, 2023, at home in Kensington, California. He was 92.

Ellsberg gained prominence for his involvement in the release of the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret study of U.S. government decision-making during the Vietnam War. Ellsberg's actions sparked significant political controversy in 1971 and had far-reaching consequences.

Daniel Ellsberg was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 7, 1931, to Harry Ellsberg and Adele (Charsky) Ellsberg. Ellsberg grew up in Detroit and attended Cranbrook School in nearby Bloomfield Hills.

He came from a family of Ashkenazi Jews who had converted to Christian Science. Ellsberg's mother aspired for him to become a concert pianist, but tragedy struck the family when both his mother and sister were killed in a car accident caused by his father falling asleep at the wheel.

Ellsberg's academic journey began with a scholarship to Harvard College, where he graduated summa cum laude with an A.B. in economics in 1952. He then pursued further studies at the University of Cambridge on a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Initially, he aimed for a diploma in economics but later shifted his focus to a Ph.D. in the subject.

After completing his studies in Cambridge, Ellsberg returned to Harvard.

In 1954, Ellsberg enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and received a commission as a first lieutenant, serving in the 2nd Marine Division until 1957.

Following his military service, Ellsberg joined the RAND Corporation, a think tank that provided research and analysis to the U.S. government. It was during his time at RAND that Ellsberg became deeply involved in studying nuclear weapons and nuclear policy.

Ellsberg's most significant contribution and the event that defined his career occurred in 1971. While working at RAND, Ellsberg made the decision to leak classified documents to the media, which came to be known as the Pentagon Papers. These documents were a top-secret study commissioned by the Department of Defense, providing an extensive account of U.S. government decision-making regarding the Vietnam War.

The Pentagon Papers revealed the discrepancies between what the government was saying publicly and what it knew privately about the war. Ellsberg believed that the American people had the right to know the truth and that the government was misleading them. He first shared the documents with The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers.

The release of the Pentagon Papers sparked a major political controversy, and the U.S. government took legal action against Ellsberg. In 1973, he was charged under the Espionage Act of 1917, facing charges of theft and conspiracy with a maximum sentence of 115 years. But, due to governmental misconduct and illegal evidence-gathering, as well as the skills of his defense attorney Leonard Boudin and Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, all charges against Ellsberg were eventually dismissed by Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. in May 1973.

Ellsberg continued to be actively involved in political and social issues. He received the Right Livelihood Award in 2006 for his action in leaking the Pentagon Papers.

Ellsberg also became known for formulating an important example in decision theory called the Ellsberg paradox, which highlights inconsistencies in people's decision-making when faced with ambiguous risks.

Throughout his life, Ellsberg has been a vocal supporter of whistleblowers and transparency. He expressed support for WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, seeing parallels between their actions and his own.

Ellsberg was married twice. In 1952 to Carol Cummings, with whom he had two children, Robert Ellsberg and Mary Ellsberg. In 1970, he married Patricia Marx, with whom he had a son, Michael Ellsberg.

Ellsberg was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2023. Ellsberg is survived by his wife, Patricia, and three children and five grandchildren.

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