White House Plumbers
Daniel Ellsberg was responsible for dress off the train of notorious case inWhite House Plumbers . Although Ellsberg is not portrayed on - screen by an worker in HBO ’s new modified serial , his mien is have it away and felt by the characters . Ellsberg is most magnificently love as the someone who leak out the Pentagon Papers in 1971 . Ellsberg coming forward as a whistle blower of the Pentagon Papers would quickly alter the political landscape of the United States at the time , specially in regard to President Richard Nixon ’s Watergate scandal .
White House Plumbersfollows the story of the White House Special Investigations Unit that was formed in 1971 in response to the leak of the Pentagon Papers . The so - called pipe fitter were tasked with fixing the leaks that would compromise President Nixon ’s chances of getting reelected . However , they were after employed to break in into the Democratic National Committee at Watergate to set up their offices with secret microphones and audio surveillance . The HBO series chronicles the genuine - life member of theWhite House Plumbers Howard Huntand Gordon Liddy , who organized the infamous Watergate break - in and several other criminal covert operations . The first two episodes of the five - part series can now be streamed on HBO Max .
Who Is Daniel Ellsberg?
Daniel Ellsberg ( viaBritannica ) was the United States military advisor and strategic analyst . He worked for the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica , California , specializing in military research and development . Ellsberg received his Bachelor ’s degree in economics from Harvard in 1952 and later attended postgraduate school there . Ellsberg enlisted in the United States Marines in 1954 at 23 . He make his Ph.D. from Harvard in economics in 1962 , creating an influential dissertation on economic conclusion hypothesis that later became known as the Ellsberg paradox . The paradox basically evidence how ambiguous conditions can alter people ’s conclusion - making .
Ellsberg went on to act at the Pentagon under the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1964 . He later act in Vietnam during the Vietnam War , where he had several firsthand experiences with American troop . From what he witnessed in Vietnam , Ellsberg believed that the United States ' war attempt made no significant progress . He was one of the first people at the top levels of the American government activity to vocalize that the Vietnam War should not carry on due to its ineffectiveness ( viaThe Guardian ) Ellsberg had many Vietnamese friends , which contribute to his growing frustration with President Nixon ’s refusal to terminate the war .
Daniel Ellsberg’s Connection To The Pentagon Papers Explained
Ellsberg ’s disapproval of the Vietnam War was his primary reasonableness for leaking the Pentagon Papers . Ellsberg returned to RAND after his metre in Vietnam and obtained entree to the Pentagon Papers , which were officially known as the " Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force . " The documents were top - hole-and-corner and secret and studied how the Vietnam War started . The Pentagon Papers were put together under the leading of Robert McNamara in 1967 after he had started to express his uncertainty and worry about the United States ' involution in the Vietnam War .
Ellsberg secretly photocopied all 7000 page of the Pentagon Papers along with his friend and colleague Anthony Russo ( viaUMass Amherst ) . Ellsberg then went straight to the press to have the confidential information write inThe New York TimesandThe Washington Post . article were subsequently published about the Pentagon Papers that aimed to expose several American Presidents go out back to John F. Kennedy for performing unconstitutional attacks on other nations to justify the Vietnam War . It highlight a hide military agenda that was hidden from the American public . Ellsberg had hoped that leak the papers would terminate the unneeded state of war .
The Results Of The Plumbers' Investigation Into Daniel Ellsberg
The White House Plumbers were hired to infiltrate the Beverly Hills office of Ellsberg ’s shrink Dr. Lewis J. Fielding . They intended to recover any information on Ellsberg ’s genial land that would annul Ellsberg ’s claims and disgrace his position on the Vietnam War and President Nixon . In tangible life , Howard Hunt and Gordon Liddy ’s team successfully broke into Dr. Fielding ’s business office and found Ellsberg ’s single file . In the HBO seriesWhite House Plumbers , Hunt ( Harrelson ) and Liddy ( Theroux ) are humorously appropriate into Fielding ’s role by a green custodian to plan their burglary into Dr. Fielding ’s office . They fulfil a clumsy break - in but claim not to have find Ellsberg ’s Indian file in the office .
In world , after obtaining Ellsberg ’s file cabinet , the Plumbers realized that it provide no important entropy they could use against him . As a result of their failed effort to undermine Ellsberg , the Plumbers lazily left Ellsberg ’s medical single file on the floor of Dr. Fielding ’s government agency . InWhite House Plumbers , no data file on Ellsberg was found , and the burglars made a complete mess of Fielding ’s office . The real Ellsberg would n’t incur out about the break - in until his trial run in 1973 ( viaLibrary of Congress ) . The Plumbers also devised a 2nd plan to interrupt into Ellsberg ’s home to incur information that could smear his credibleness , but they did not get approval for that covert operation .
Where Daniel Ellsberg Is Today
Ellsberg finally turned himself into authorities in 1971 and faced a public trial . Ellsberg was facing up to a lifetime in prison house on theft and cabal bearing but did not have any condemnable convictions . The entire case was brush aside due to governmental actus reus once the White House Plumbers and Nixon ’s Watergate scandal were exposed . Ellsberg excuse that the Pentagon Papers were illegally classified because they revealed criminal activities of the President , but initially face enormous recoil from Judge William Byrne . Once the intermission - in was break to the Judge , he begin to see Ellsberg ’s purity and his point behind releasing the document .
After the Watergate scandal ended Nixon ’s presidentship , Daniel Ellsberg continued his political and peacefulness activism . As recently as in 2021 , Ellsberg released more serenity documents involve the Pentagon ’s plans to launch a nuclear attack on China in 1958 . Ellsberg has also continued his activism against war to this day , speaking out about his disapproval of the United States ' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and latterly showing support for Ukraine in their engagement against Russia . He also unsurprisingly preserve to put up whistle blower . Ellsberg presently be in California ( viaAARP ) and has not publicly stated his opinions of HBO ’s new seriesWhite House Plumbers .
Source : The Guardian , Britannica , UMass Amherst , Library of Congress , AARP
