Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked the "Pentagon Papers" about the Vietnam War — changing public perceptions of the conflict — died on Friday, his family announced. He was 92.
Ellsberg was a military analyst when he released thousands of documents to U.S. media in 1971 that revealed successive United States administrations had lied to the public about the Vietnam war.
The 7,000 classified pages determined that, contrary to the public assertions of U.S government officials, the conflict was unwinnable.
The leak was recounted in the 2017 Hollywood thriller "The Post," which detailed the nail-biting behind-the-scenes story of the papers' publication.
Ellsberg announced in March that doctors had told him on February 17 that he had terminal pancreatic cancer and only around six months to live.
"He was not in pain, and was surrounded by loving family," his wife and children said in a statement announcing his death.
I don't know him Oliver.
