The Post Page #7

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We're supposed

to retire on Friday.

Ben, how are we supposed to

comb through 4,000 pages--

They're not even

loosely organized.

The Times had three months.

There's no way we

get this amount...

Yeah, he's right,

we got less than eight hours.

We get two per city,

then we have ten.

Hey, hey, hey, for the last six

years we've been playing catch up.

And now thanks to the President

of the United States

who, by the way, is taking a sh*t

all over the First Amendment,

we have the goods.

We don't have any competition.

There's dozens of

stories in here.

The Times has barely

scratched the surface.

We have ten hours till

the deadline, so,

we dig in.

I think this memo's

from McNamara.

Uh "It is my belief

that there should be

a three or four week

pause in bombing--"

Wait, wait, wait, I saw the

other half of that memo.

Uh, anyone have the back half

of a cable from Dulles in '54?

I thought I saw one from July.

Yeah, here it is, uh, "The

reasons for this belief

"are that we must

lay a foundation

"in the mind of the

American public."

Th-Th-Th-That's it!

Mm-hmm.

So Johnson wasn't

trying to make peace,

he was just manipulating

the public?

Eyes out for a suspension

in bombing from when?

'65 to '68.

What about a memo

from Eisenhower's

special committee in Indochina?

Uh, Meg read a

part of one to me.

-Meg?

-Anybody see a mention

-of the Rand Vietcong study?

-Yeah, I think this might be

from your Rand study,

"VC are deeply committed."

"South Vietnam is a lost cause."

Whoa! There you go!

-Meg, Meg, Meg, I need the uh...

-I put it on the shelf.

A couple of piles.

We're gettin' somewhere.

All right, it's 1:30, at

4:
00 story conference.

Can I interest anyone

in some lemonade?

Does it have vodka in it?

-I don't, I don't

-Hey,

-put vodka in my lemonade.

-go easy on the kid.

Why not?

-How much, sweetheart?

-A quarter.

It's fifty cents.

-Inflation.

-It's going up!

Mr. Bradlee. Roger Clark.

Oh, you're Roger Clark.

Nice to meet you in person.

You...you are our

senior legal counsel.

Yes, we've-we've

spoken on the phone.

My voice should sound familiar.

When did you finish law school?

-I graduated--

-Rhetorical question.

-You know,

-Yes.

the guy we had before you

is now Secretary of State?

I did not know that.

A little joke, perhaps

not the time--

What exactly can

I help you with?

So, why would the CIA director

send a memo on work orders?

'Cause they weren't

calling it a war yet.

Okay, I've got

turkey with mustard,

-roast beef with horseradish.

-Oh, I'll take it.

Howard, come look at this.

-Chal, you've gotta see this--

-Take a napkin.

it's a full analysis of McNamara's

changing view of the war.

Does it say anything

about why...?

So, we knew they were

gonna assassinate Diem.

Yeah, and they did

nothing to stop it.

I think I got something on

McNamara on the fireplace--

the other fireplace.

Murray, where's the

back half of this one?

Tell me these aren't the

classified documents

from the McNamara study.

-4,000 pages of it.

-Hungry?

I need to use a phone.

There's uh, one in the other room.

-Is that it?

-This is it, this is it.

This is gonna happen.

Hi, thanks for

letting me drop by.

-Marg still napping?

-Yeah, yeah.

Do you mind if we

talk in the center?

-Just so I can hear her.

-No, no

-She wakes...

-Of course not.

I can't stay long, I've got a

-big event at the house later.

-I guess you've

read everything now.

Yes, I have, I have. Yes.

And I went over it

again this morning.

All of it.

And I just...

Forgive me, Bob, I...

know you're dealing

with so much, but

but it's just, it's so hard to, um,

try to make sense of why

of how you could

have done all these things.

How you could

just lie to us all.

Well... i-it's easy

for the papers to

characterize us

as liars, we were just

trying to push back--

Yeah, but you let it go on,

and on, and--

My son is home now

and safe--Thank God.

But you watched him go.

You knew we couldn't

win over there

for years and years and years,

and yet you let me...

You let so many of our

friends send our boys off...

Kay, we were doing

the best we could.

It was domino theory,

containment.

And eventually, we felt that

military pressure

was the only thing that was gonna

drive Ho Chi Minh to the table.

Our decision-making

process was--

"Flawed."

It was flawed. That's

what your study said.

Yes.

I do believe

that you were trying

to do your best.

And I know how

difficult it can be

to make choices that will...

That's kind of you.

Oh, well, what comes next

might not be so kind.

You have the papers?

Oh.

Let's just say

I may have

a big decision to make.

They will argue it's a violation

of the Espionage Act.

That is a felony, Ben.

That's only-only if the

documents we print

could damage the United States.

There's a federal

judge in New York

who seems to think

that they could.

Well, I've got six seasoned

journalists in the next room

who've been reporting on this

war for the last ten years.

And I'll lay odds that

they have a better idea

of what could damage

the United States

than some judge

who is just now

wading in this territory

for the first time.

"Wading", is that a metaphor

for Vietnam?

Okay, Ben, look, we know

your reporters are talented.

But The New York Times

spent three months

going over these documents.

You've got what--seven hours now

until the paper goes to press?

Can you honestly tell me

that that is enough time

to make sure not a single

military plan, not a single

U.S. soldier,

not a single American life

will be put in harm's way,

that this will do no damage to the

United States if you publish?

Yes.

You're sure about that?

No!

That's why I called you guys.

Look, Kay, I know why

The Times ran the story.

But you need to understand,

the study was for posterity.

It was written for academics

in the future and right now, we're

still in the middle of the war.

The papers can't be objective.

I suppose the public

has a right to know.

But I would prefer

that the study not be

made widely available

until it can be read

with some perspective.

-You understand.

-Mm.

We've been through

a lot, haven't we?

You and Marg.

You were there for me.

At the lowest point of my life.

You helped me.

You've selected

my entire board.

You're my most trusted advisor.

My dear friend.

But my feelings

about that

and about you can't

uh, be part of this

decision to publish or not.

I'm here asking

your advice, Bob,

not your permission.

Well,

then as one of your

most trusted advisors,

and someone who knows how much

you care about this company,

I'm worried, Kay.

You know, I worked in

Washington for ten years

I've seen these people

up close.

Bobby and Lyndon,

they were tough customers.

But Nixon is different.

He's got some real bad

people around him.

And if you publish, he'll

get the very worst of them

the Colsons, and the Ehrlichmans

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