A Story of One of Two Heroines

The Post is a wonderful dramatization of the repeat performance of our so-called-President. The underlying story in The Post was the Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers. It’s a must-see for the MillennialZ, who generally might have only heard of Watergate and the Vietnam war, but don’t know much about the Pentagon Papers.

One of the amazing things was observing the back rooms of the printing presses of the time where all stories were assembled with typeset, each letter physically set in place. Even then, I wondered how they could perform such a task.

The film’s heroine Katherine Graham, the owner of the Washington Post, risks everything, to do the right thing. One possible fault would be that the underlying story of the Pentagon Papers truncated along with another heroine that set the stage for the dramatic Post story. It’s an inspiration that has been missing for many years. Graham was the ultimate insider in Washington politics, who had inherited the publishing company, and risked it all to help save our country.

And who was the other heroine that set the stage? Patricia Ellsberg.

I had the honor to meet her twice, and the last time I thanked her for her role in changing America. I was dancing with her at a wedding reception, I told her that I think of her as the most important American in the last 50 years. I still believe that.

Her husband, Daniel Ellsberg, was a gang-ho marine and high up in the Nixon administration. He met Patricia during the Vietnam war and she would later expose him to the liberal and progressive view. When Dan discovered the top secret Pentagon Papers, he shared them with Patricia and she said that he should disclose to the public. Before Ellsberg’s release of the Papers, he was effectively acting as the #2 guy in the Secretary of Defense’s office. (I recommend his book, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, by Daniel Ellsberg.)

The Post did a decent, but limited, job at demonstrating the flimsy reason for US involvement in foreign affairs, and the decisions made in the late 40s carried forward by Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon— each passing the buck. This was a significant issue for Ellsberg’s release of the Top Secret Pentagon Papers. Nixon went nuts over the release, and as Ellsberg hid out with the help of heroic friends, Ellsberg became “the most wanted man in America.” Patricia remained steadfast to the cause, assisting Dan by helping him (and herself) hideout in apartments of friends.

Patricia was considered a co-conspirator and helped copy the documents (each page took 10+ seconds). Even if she hadn’t been convicted of espionage, her husband was almost certain to receive life in prison

It’s very frightening, especially today, to think of where our country would be without the full disclosure of the criminal activities of our leaders. So, my vote for the “Most Important Persons” in the last 50 years are the Ellsbergs -and my vote for the most unsung heroine is Patricia Ellsberg, who like Katherine Graham, risked everything to do the right thing. May we all be prepared to rise to the call of duty to do the right thing.