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America's preeminent whistle-blower -- and this film about him -- both got their title courtesy of Henry Kissinger. As Richard Nixon's national security adviser, it was Henry the K who dubbed Daniel Ellsberg "the most dangerous man in America," adding that he "has to be stopped at all costs."
The Oscar-nominated documentary by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith chronicles an insider's moral decision to take it upon himself and de-classify a top-secret Pentagon study revealing that four U.S. presidents consistently lied to the public about a war that killed millions and tore the nation apart.
Mr. Ellsberg's controversial career path begins when the ex-Marine rifle company commander and Harvard decision-theory scholar takes a policy wonk job as a Rand Corp. analyst -- a cog in the professional war machine. He's a quintessential Cold Warrior and "true believer" in the struggle of democracy against communism, starting work in August 1964 -- the very week an incident in Vietnam's Gulf of Tonkin was used by President Lyndon Johnson to obtain unlimited authority to wage war. Mr. Ellsberg knew the Tonkin "attack" was based on false information but helped spin it. Soon after, he was ordered by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara to gather examples of North Vietnamese "atrocities" in order to boost support. There weren't any. But Mr. Ellsberg helped manufacture one that was cited to justify the biggest blanket bombing of any country in the history of warfare.
Viet Cong guerrilla tactics, however, were running circles around vastly superior American military might. The communists' 1968 Tet offensive demolished the myths of progress. In November, Richard Nixon was elected on his faux pledge and "secret plan" to end the war. Instead, he escalated it.
- Starring: Daniel Ellsberg.
- Rating: PG-13 in nature for mild profanity.
- Web site: www.mostdangerousman.org/
In June 1967 Mr. McNamara had ordered a comprehensive history of the war that would debunk the war's legitimacy and recognize it as a struggle for self-determination. An assistant secretary of defense told Mr. McNamara: "We're in Vietnam 10 percent to help the South Vietnamese, 20 percent to hold back the Chinese, and 70 percent to save American face."
"It wasn't that we were on the wrong side," Mr. Ellsberg observes. "It's that we WERE the wrong side."
Mr. Ellsberg's evolution from hawk to dove was slow and painful. Increasingly disillusioned and guilt-ridden for his involvement, his doubts finally crystallized into a daring act of rebellion: He began smuggling the Pentagon Papers out of his office by day and photocopying them at home by night. It took months to copy all 41 volumes -- a staggering 7,000 pilfered pages, given to The New York Times in March 1971.
"Most Dangerous Man" is told by the players themselves, including Mr. Ellsberg's staunchly supportive wife, Patricia, his Rand colleagues, the Pentagon Papers authors, anti-war activists, Watergate principals, and the journalists who both covered the story and became an integral part of it. But the most fascinating input comes from Mr. Nixon himself in conversation with his innermost advisers on the infamous White House tapes: "Henry, the only place where you and I disagree is the bombing. You're so goddamned concerned about the civilians, and I don't give a damn. I don't care."
Mr. Kissinger comes across as the (relative) voice of reason. His paranoid boss, by contrast, often sounds like Gen. Jack D. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove." In his most bone-chilling moment, he rails against "that son-of-a-bitchin' thief" Ellsberg for jeopardizing the pyrrhic military victory Mr. Nixon longs for:
Mr. Nixon: "I still think we ought to take the dikes out now."
Mr. Kissinger: "That will drown about 200,000 people."
Mr. Nixon: "Well, no, no, I'd rather use a nuclear bomb. Have you got that ready?"
Mr. Kissinger: "That I think will just be too much."
Mr. Nixon: "A nuclear bomb, does that bother you? I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christ sakes!"
The president's rage prompts his creation of the leak-plugging "Plumbers" -- Egil "Bud" Krough, Howard Hunt, et al White House and "outsourced" henchmen -- to burgle Mr. Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office for information and later do the same at the Watergate.
Co-directors Mr. Ehrlich and Mr.Goldsmith wisely keep the tale to a crisp 93 minutes. Unwisely, they can't resist some "dramatic" reenactments and cheesy animation and a tendency to be too hagiographic. "Most Dangerous Man" would have benefited from at least a few non-Nixonian negative views of Mr. Ellsberg for balance.
In the end, the hero was disappointed that his bold "outing" of the truth failed to change public opinion faster or end the war sooner. But his powerful moral compass exposed a presidency that considered itself unanswerable to the law, the press, the Congress -- or anybody else.
Equally important: This Pentagon Papers account spotlights the unsung heroism of Sen. Mike Gravel and Rep. Pete McCloskey -- and the newspaper business. Mr. Ellsberg (facing 115 years in prison) and the press successfully fought not just his espionage and conspiracy charges but a malevolent publishing injunction, winning a landmark First Amendment victory in the Supreme Court's ruling that crying "national security" does not automatically justify censorship in advance. Seventeen newspapers -- many of them now struggling or in their death throes -- defied the government's injunction.
It's something to think about the next time you're tempted to cancel the daily paper subscription in favor of all that "free" news on the Internet. Ain't no blogger, tweeter, texter or sexter gonna go to bat -- let alone jail -- for your right to know.
Opens today at the Harris Theater, Downtown.
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