The Pentagon Papers

The Pentagon Papers, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force," was commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. In June 1971, small portions of the report were leaked to the press and widely distributed. However, the publications of the report that resulted from these leaks were incomplete and suffered from many quality issues.

On the 40th anniversary of the leak to the press, the U.S. National Archives, along with the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon presidential libraries, released the complete report with no redactions. There are approximately 7,000 declassified pages, and 34 percent of the report is available for the first time.

President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Military Service

On June 21, 1940, Lyndon Johnson was appointed Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve (USNR). Reporting for active duty on Dec. 10, 1941, three days after Pearl Harbor, he was ordered to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., for instruction.

Interactive: The Vietnam Conflict, LBJ Presidential Library Permanent Exhibit

The war in Vietnam began long before Lyndon Johnson's presidency and ended in 1975, years after he left office. But for many Americans, it is the event most closely associated with Johnson's years in the White House. Of the millions of files, thousands of photos and recordings, and hundreds of films housed in our library, a substantial number relate to America's presence in Vietnam.