Daniel Ellsberg (born April 1931) is an American activist and former United States military analyst. In 1971, while employed by the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg precipitated a national political controversy when he released the Pentagon Papers, (a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War), to The New York Times and other newspapers. Ellsberg was charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 along with other charges of theft and conspiracy, carrying a total maximum sentence of 115 years. Due to governmental misconduct and illegal evidence gathering and the defense by Leonard Boudin and Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, Judge Byrne dismissed all charges against Ellsberg on May 11, 1973. Ellsberg was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2006. He is also known for having formulated an important example in decision theory, the Ellsberg paradox.
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The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
