What is Daniel Ellsberg?
{{Infobox person |name=Daniel Ellsberg |image=Daniel Ellsberg 2020 06.jpg |image_size= |caption=Ellsberg in 2020 |birth_date={{birth date|1931|04|07}} |birth_place=[[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|2023|06|16|1931|04|07}} |death_place=[[Kensington, California|Kensington]], [[California]], U.S. |death_cause=[[Pancreatic cancer]] |known_for=[[Pentagon Papers]], <br /> [[Ellsberg paradox]] |education=[[Harvard University]] (AB, PhD)<br />[[King's College, Cambridge]] |employer=[[RAND Corporation]] |spouse=Carol Cummings (divorced)<br />{{marriage|Patricia Marx|1970}} |children=[[Robert Ellsberg|Robert]], Mary (1st marriage)<br />[[Michael Ellsberg]] (2nd marriage) |website=[http://www.ellsberg.net www.ellsberg.net] }} [[File:Daniel elsberg 1777.JPG|thumb|Ellsberg at [[Georgetown University]] in 2014.]] '''Daniel Ellsberg''' (April 7, 1931 – June 16, 2023) was an American activist and former [[United States military]] analyst who was known for releasing the classified [[Pentagon Papers]] to ''[[The Washington Post]]''. ==Pentagon Papers== While employed by the [[RAND Corporation]], precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the [[Pentagon Papers]], a top-secret [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the [[Vietnam War]], to ''[[The New York Times]]'' and other newspapers. ===Charge=== 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]], [[William Matthew Byrne, Jr.|Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr.]] dismissed all charges against Ellsberg on May 11, 1973.<ref name=Ellsberg1961>{{Cite journal |last=Ellsberg|first=Daniel|author-link=Daniel Ellsberg|journal=[[Quarterly Journal of Economics]]|volume=75|title=Risk, Ambiguity, and the Savage Axioms|url=https://archive.org