Political legacies were tarnished from "summary" of The Pentagon Papers by George Herring
The release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971 sent shockwaves through the political establishment in Washington. The classified documents revealed a pattern of deception and miscalculation by the government in its handling of the Vietnam War. As the American public digested the contents of the papers, it became clear that the war had been prosecuted under false pretenses and with a callous disregard for the lives of both American troops and Vietnamese civilians. The fallout from the Pentagon Papers was swift and severe. Political leaders who had championed the war effort found their reputations in tatters, their legacies tarnished by their complicity in perpetuating a conflict based on lies. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had escalated U. S. involvement in Vietnam, saw his image as a champion of civil rights and social reform overshadowed by his role in a disastrous military campaign. Similarly, Secretary of Defense Robert Mc...
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