埃尔斯伯格泄露五角大楼文件有助于巩固公众对越南战争的反对，并使国会议员反对冲突。 “纽约时报”，“华盛顿邮报”和其他报纸发表的文件有助于为美国历史上的新闻自由辩护做出最重要的法律决定。当理查德·尼克松总统的政府试图阻止“泰晤士报”报道五角大楼文件时，该报反击。美国最高法院后来确定，报纸的行为符合公共利益，并限制政府在出版之前使用“先前的限制”来审查故事。写了最高法院的多数：“只有自由奔放的媒体才能有效地揭露政府中的欺骗行为。 ……在揭露导致越南战争的政府运作方面，报纸高尚地做了创始人所希望和相信他们会做的事情。“关于州长声称出版物将威胁国家安全的判决，法院指出：” “安全”一词是一种广泛而模糊的概括，其轮廓不应被用来废除第一修正案所体现的基本法。
新加坡管理大学管理学Assignment代写：Daniel Ellsberg的传记
Ellsberg’s leak of the Pentagon Papers helped to solidify the public’s opposition to the Vietnam War and turn members of Congress against the conflict. The publication of the documents by The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers helped bring about the most important legal decision in defense of press freedom in American history. When President Richard M. Nixon’s administration sought to prevent The Times from reporting on the Pentagon Papers, the newspaper fought back. The U.S. Supreme Court later determined that the newspapers were acting in the public interest and restricted the government’s use of “prior restraint” to censor stories before publication. Wrote Supreme Court’s majority: “Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. … In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam War, the newspapers nobly did that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do.” Ruling on the governor’s claim that publication would threaten national security, the court stated: “The word ‘security’ is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment.”