The Pentagon Papers | Neil Sheehan and Hedrick Smith

The Pentagon Papers are a series of articles, documents, and studies examining the Johnson Administration’s lies to the public about the extent of US involvement in the Vietnam War, bringing to light shocking conclusions about America’s true role in the conflict.

Published by The New York Times in 1971, The Pentagon Papers riveted an already deeply divided nation with startling and disturbing revelations about the United States' involvement in Vietnam. Their release demonstrated that our government had systematically lied to both the public and to Congress. They remain relevant today as a reminder of the importance of a free press and all First Amendment rights.

This incomparable, 848-page volume includes:

• The Truman and Eisenhower Years: 1945-1960 by Fox Butterfield
• Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam by Fox Butterfield
• The Kennedy Years: 1961-1963 by Hedrick Smith
• The Overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem: May-November, 1963 by Hedrick Smith
• The Covert War and Tonkin Gulf: February-August, 1964 by Neil Sheehan
• The Consensus to Bomb North Vietnam: August, 1964-February, 1965 by Neil Sheehan
• The Launching of the Ground War: March-July, 1965 by Neil Sheehan
• The Buildup: July, 1965-September, 1966 by Fox Butterfield
• Secretary McNamara’s Disenchantment: October, 1966-May, 1967 by Hedrick Smith
• The Tet Offensive and the Turnaround by E. W. Kenworthy
• Analysis and Comment
• Court Records
• Biographies of Key Figures

With a new foreword by James L. Greenfield, this edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning story is sure to provoke discussion about free press and government deception, and shed some light on issues in the past and the present so that we can better understand and improve the future.

About the Author

Neil Sheehan is the author of A Fiery Peace in a Cold War and A Bright Shining Lie, which won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 1989. He spent three years in Vietnam as a war correspondent for United Press International and The New York Times and won numerous awards for his reporting. In 1971, he obtained The Pentagon Papers, which brought the Times the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for meritorious public service. Sheehan lives in Washington, DC. He is married to the writer Susan Sheehan.

E. W. Kenworthy worked at The New York Times for nearly thirty years, in both New York and Washington. He passed away in January 1993.

Fox Butterfield is an American journalist and author. His work has been read and acclaimed widely, having received both a Pulitzer Prize for his role in publishing The Pentagon Papers and a National Book Award for China: Alive in the Bitter Sea.

Hedrick Smith is an American journalist, producer, and correspondent. During twenty-six years at The New York Times, he covered the civil rights struggle, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War, among many other monumental events in America history.

James L. Greenfield was the US secretary of state for public affairs as well as an editor for The New York Times for more than twenty years. He directly contributed to the publication of The Pentagon Papers and later founded the Independent Journalism Foundation.