DANIEL ELLSBERG
Name: Daniel Ellsberg
Born: 7 April 1931
Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is a former American military analyst
employed by the RAND Corporation who precipitated a national uproar in 1971 when
he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of government
decision-making during the Vietnam War, to The New York Times and other
newspapers.
Ellsberg grew up in Detroit and attended Cranbrook Kingswood School, then
attended Harvard University, graduating with a Ph.D. in Economics in 1959 in
which he described a paradox in decision theory now known as the Ellsberg
paradox. He served as a company commander in the Marine Corps for two years, and
then became an analyst at the RAND Corporation.
A committed Cold Warrior, he served in the Pentagon in 1964 under Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara (and, in fact, was on duty on the evening of the Gulf of
Tonkin incident, reporting the incident to McNamara). He then served for two
years in Vietnam working for General Edward Lansdale as a civilian in the State
Department, and became convinced that the Vietnam War was unwinnable. He further
believed that nearly everyone in the Defense and State Departments felt, as he
did, that the United States had no realistic chance of achieving victory in
Vietnam, but that political considerations prevented them from saying so
publicly. McNamara and others continued to state in press interviews that
victory was "just around the corner." As the war continued to escalate, Ellsberg
became deeply disillusioned.
Name: Daniel Ellsberg
Born: 7 April 1931
Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is a former American military analyst
employed by the RAND Corporation who precipitated a national uproar in 1971 when
he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of government
decision-making during the Vietnam War, to The New York Times and other
newspapers.
Ellsberg grew up in Detroit and attended Cranbrook Kingswood School, then
attended Harvard University, graduating with a Ph.D. in Economics in 1959 in
which he described a paradox in decision theory now known as the Ellsberg
paradox. He served as a company commander in the Marine Corps for two years, and
then became an analyst at the RAND Corporation.
A committed Cold Warrior, he served in the Pentagon in 1964 under Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara (and, in fact, was on duty on the evening of the Gulf of
Tonkin incident, reporting the incident to McNamara). He then served for two
years in Vietnam working for General Edward Lansdale as a civilian in the State
Department, and became convinced that the Vietnam War was unwinnable. He further
believed that nearly everyone in the Defense and State Departments felt, as he
did, that the United States had no realistic chance of achieving victory in
Vietnam, but that political considerations prevented them from saying so
publicly. McNamara and others continued to state in press interviews that
victory was "just around the corner." As the war continued to escalate, Ellsberg
became deeply disillusioned.