8. Lies Exposed

The Pentagon Papers, a top-secret compilation of documents detailing the United States’ political and military involvement in Vietnam, dramatically altered public perception of the war when Daniel Ellsberg, a Department of Defense employee, released them to The New York Times. Ellsberg, disillusioned by the war, sought to expose the depth of deception.

The revelations uncovered, among other things, the current administration’s involvement in the 1963 military coup and the assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. Additionally, the documents showed that U.S. bombing campaigns in the North had little effect on diminishing the North Vietnamese government’s resolve, challenging the official narrative of the war’s progress and effectiveness.