The Papers and the Papers: An Account of the Legal and Political Battle over the Pentagon Papers,

by Sanford J. Ungar

The papers & the An account of the legal and political battle over the Pentagon papers [Jan 01, 1989] Unger, Sanford J

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1972

Reviews

[James Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1972 Sanford J. Unger, then a staff writer for the Washington Post, set out to recount the legal battle over the Pentagon Papers. I read his book when it was published in 1972 and, after watching the film "The Post," reread it.

The book was written before the US withdrawal from Vietnam and before the Watergate scandal revealed such abuses of power as the break-in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg. It remains, nonetheless, riveting history that speaks to our present situation.

Particularly telling is the second half of Chapter 11, which details the stupidity of the government's classification system. At one point, the Post's attorney, after a side battle before Federal Judge Gerhard Gesell, is granted access to secret affidavits alleging the harm that will come to the US if The NY Times and the Washington Post resume publication of their stories based on the papers. He begins to take notes, but is told by Assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian first that the attorney is prohibited from taking notes and then is told he may not take his notes with him. The attorney finally wins the moment, but after the following day's hearing, his notes are taken from him, marked Top Secret, and stored at the Pentagon. There are other examples as well.

"The Papers and the Papers" is out of print, but many library systems still have copies. For those interested in the era and the first over publication of the Pentagon Papers, this account, now nearly a half century old, is worth reading.

Sandy Unger, by the way, is now the director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University and is a former president of Goucher College.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read. Although a young woman when these events were occurring, I was too busy being a mom to really pay much attention to it. Now as a more politically astute mature person, I realized from reading this that in politics nothing much ever changes. The powerful are only interested in maintaining their power at any cost and will attempt to intimidate or try to crush anyone who gets in their way. There was nothing that was published that compromised national security (always such a convenient excuse to hide the truth), only things that would embarrass the various administrations because of their duplicity in regard to the war in Vietnam. Reading this only reinforces my belief that our government had always and will continue to lie to the American people to advance their own agendas.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was extremely helpful as I researched the Supreme Court case New York Times Company v. United States. Unger tells the story in its entirty not leaving out a single possible detail. That is also the reason that I did not give this book five stars. At times the information was simply overwhelming.
However, Ungar presents the complicated information in an easy to understand manner (as understandable as stuff like this can be) with more than adequate details. I would definitely use this book as a solid reference on the topic. That being said, a table of contents would have been extremely helpful. (I noticed that detail when I was flipping back through the book to try to find some details on how the case originated to use in the case brief I am writing.)
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves history, especially constitutional history.

[Natalie Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A riveting account of the Pentagon Papers case that reads like a thriller while exploring the media's legal, moral, and financial relationship with the Papers. Much less scholarly than I expected it would be, but still thoroughly engaging.

[Friedenbergmichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting read. It helped refresh my memory of President Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew and their hostility towards the press. This book reads like a thriller but its all true.