Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg says he has terminal cancer

He had been given three to six months to live, more or less, he said, though the cancer had not caused him any early symptoms, as is typical with the illness.

The documents Ellsberg became globally known for leaking were referred to as the Pentagon Papers, which outlined American involvement in Vietnam between 1945 and 1967. They revealed that successive White House administrations realized the US could not win the war there.

More than 58,000 Americans had died and 304,000 were wounded at the end of the war in 1975. Meanwhile, nearly 250,000 South Vietnamese military members had been killed, along with up to 1 million guerrillas from North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. Additionally, more than 2 million civilians from North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia had died amid the fighting.

Coverage of the Pentagon Papers won the New York Times a Pulitzer for public service. The entire saga was retold in the Oscar-nominated film The Post, which Steven Spielberg directed. The British actor Matthew Rhys portrayed Ellsberg.

Ellsberg served with the US Marine Corps in the 1950s before going to Vietnam as a civilian defense department analyst who studied tactics to counter insurgents. The Rand Corporation employed him when he leaked the Pentagon Papers.