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Like most classified documents, McNamaraÂ’s study could have been filed away in obscurity, leaving its most important message untaught for decades to come. However, due to the intervention of one of the studyÂ’s authors and a New York Times reporter, the Pentagon Papers became public. The leak of this study to the Times
became a turning point in the history of Richard NixonÂ’s presidency and a crucial catalyst in his downfall. Ultimately, it was this leak that convinced President Nixon that he was in the battle of a lifetime, not only to protect his own presidency, but to protect the nation.
In his eyes, the publication of the Pentagon Papers confirmed that there existed, throughout the government and media, a radical, left-wing conspiracy whose purpose it was to topple his administration and undermine his authority as the President of the United States. Faced with this embarrassing security breach, Nixon eventually concluded that he would have to fight back against the “conspiracy” with every tool at his disposal,
even if that meant breaking the law. Unfortunately, this decision would ultimately carry over to other battles against this imagined conspiracy and would cost him the very thing he was fighting to protect, his presidency."