Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War

Back in California, Tony Russo, who helped Ellsberg copy the papers, spent six weeks in jail before being released on bail. He faced 35 years behind bars, and Ellsberg faced up to 115. However, both were “unrepentant.”

In Vietnam, there were only 70,000 US troops left, but South Vietnamese forces appeared close to collapse when North Vietnam launched another series of attacks. Nixon felt that losing Vietnam was “a grave threat to American prestige—and to his own” (277); “disaster” had to be avoided at all costs before the next presidential election. He decided to begin a new bombing campaign against North Vietnam, which would be the first in four years. The president wanted to do something “big” with little regard for civilian life, but Kissinger was worried about the world condemning Nixon as “a butcher.”

The Plumbers, meanwhile, made a few more failed attempts to harm or humiliate Ellsberg. However, they also focused on other tasks to support Nixon’s reelection campaign. They intended to bug the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign offices in the Watergate office and apartment complex.

On May 8, 1972, the American military began bombing targets in and around Hanoi and placing mines in harbors to cut off ships. Ellsberg sank into a depression; the war continued despite all he had risked to stop it.