the film is set in 1971, "the post" is about the true story of attempts by journalists at "the washington post" to publish the "pentagon papers", classified documents about the 30-year involvement of the united states government in the vietnam war. it begins with secretary of defense robert mcnamara telling the public he supports the war effort but privately telling ellsberg and macomber that the war is lost. years later, ellsberg secretly makes copies of many classified documents about the vietnam war. he brings them to neil sheehan of the new york times. katharine graham leads the washington post and faces a dominant male industry. the post eventually acquires the same material and begins assembling thousands of documents. tension arises over whether to publish because the post could face charges in court. bradlee and graham learn former presidents and friends deceived them. nevertheless, graham decides to publish the reports. the post and the times appear in court and win. the "new york times co. v. united states" decision allows the media to print the classified documents. the film ends showing the watergate burglary.