Daniel Ellsberg risked his freedom when he went public with explosive truths in the early 1970s: the US government had systematically deceived its people about the Vietnam War. The man who unveiled the Pentagon Papers has died at the age of 92. An obituary.
Daniel Ellsberg was a traitor. He leaked government secrets and exposed the truth; according to the law, up to 115 years imprisonment were available. He was afraid of prison, but he still risked his freedom and went public with his knowledge. Half a century ago, Ellsberg became the number one enemy of the state in the United States and the most famous whistleblower in the world, a role model for the office messenger Christoph Meili, who drew attention to the way Swiss banks deal with dormant assets, for Julian Assange, who founded Wikileaks, and for Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, who could denounce the systematic and global surveillance.