Statement on the Passing of Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg, the man best known for leaking the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, died Friday. Ellsberg was a longtime anti-war and anti-nuclear weapons activist who, when he announced his decision to decline chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer in March, pledged to spend the time he had left speaking about the dangers of nuclear war, among other critical issues. At the Council and Center, we were proud to work with him often, most recently in 2018 when our staff set up meetings between him and Members of Congress to discuss his book, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. We will remember his courage and lifelong efforts to build a just and sensible national security posture and to keep government accountable as we continue to work toward those same goals.