This once-secret report documents U.S. involvement in the war in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, from the U.S. engagement in Vietnam during World War II and ending with the total commitment of U.S. military forces in 1967. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967, the official title is “Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force.”
In June of 1971, small portions were leaked to the press and widely distributed. However, the publications of the report that resulted from these leaks were incomplete. On the 40th anniversary of the leak to the press, the National Archives, along with the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Presidential Libraries, released the complete report.
Select pages of the index are included here. Find more information and read or download the complete report on the National Archives website.
The Pentagon Papers is a part of America’s 100 Docs, an initiative of the National Archives Foundation in partnership with More Perfect that invites the American public to vote on 100 notable documents from the holdings of the National Archives. Visit 100docs.vote today.
