Most Dangerous: Part II

by Steve Sheinkin
In this suspenseful and meticulously researched book, Steve Sheinkin brings the Vietnam War era to life by focusing on Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst who initially helped justify the Vietnam War and later released top-secret documents known as the Pentagon Papers.

Here are links to our lists for the text: Prologue–Part I, Part II, Part III–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. warmonger
    a person who advocates militaristic policies
    “Do not forget you are air pirate and capitalist warmonger! You are criminal aggressor who has bombed and killed peaceful Vietnamese!”
  2. toll
    value measured by what must be done to obtain something
    More than six thousand American soldiers had been killed, and as the fighting intensified that year, the death toll rose sharply to nearly one thousand a month.
  3. effigy
    a representation of a person
    Stevie Westmoreland, the general’s daughter, watched in horror as college students set flame to an effigy of her father.
  4. credibility
    the quality of being believable or trustworthy
    The isolation only worsened what the press had begun calling the “credibility gap”—the gap between what Johnson was telling the public and what the public believed was really happening in Vietnam.
  5. stalemate
    a situation in which no progress can be made
    Yes, Westmoreland agreed, the Communists were likely to match American escalation. But with the requested reinforcements, the stalemate might be snapped.
  6. dovish
    opposed to war or militaristic policies
    Johnson griped, “That military genius, McNamara, has gone dovish on me.”
  7. discrepancy
    a difference between conflicting facts or claims or opinions
    The study was a secret history of the Vietnam War. And the documents revealed a vast discrepancy between what government officials had been saying publicly and what they knew to be true.
  8. rail
    criticize severely
    In meetings, McNamara would rail against the war...
  9. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
    “Looks like some trouble in Saigon,” he told Rostow.
    That was an understatement.
  10. strew
    be dispersed over
    There was rubble strewn everywhere, and the bodies of Americans and Viet Cong attackers.
  11. ethos
    the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era
    “In the past, I had instinctively accepted the ethos of my profession, the idea that leaking was always inherently bad, treacherous....I had been wrong. Obviously, leaking could be a patriotic and constructive act.”
  12. treacherous
    tending to betray
    “In the past, I had instinctively accepted the ethos of my profession, the idea that leaking was always inherently bad, treacherous....I had been wrong. Obviously, leaking could be a patriotic and constructive act.”
  13. partisan
    devoted to a cause or political group
    “With America’s sons in the fields far away, with America’s future under challenge right here at home,” he said, “I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes....Accordingly, I shall not seek, and will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”
  14. pivotal
    being of crucial importance
    He admired Kennedy’s determination to end the war, and helped the candidate craft speeches in preparation for the pivotal California Democratic primary.
  15. undermine
    weaken or impair, especially gradually
    But if peace talks undermined Nixon’s chances to win the election, Nixon was prepared to undermine the peace talks.
  16. entourage
    the group following and attending to some important person
    “I am regularly in touch with the Nixon entourage,” Bui Diem wrote in one of the cables. “Many Republican friends have contacted me and encouraged us to stand firm.”
  17. connive
    form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
    “It would rock the world if it were known that Thieu was conniving with the Republicans,” he told aides. “Can you imagine what people would say if it were known that Hanoi has met all these conditions and then Nixon’s conniving with them kept us from getting it?”
  18. sabotage
    destroy property or hinder normal operations
    What does it say about a man’s character that he would sabotage peace talks to win votes?
  19. subtly
    in a manner difficult to detect or grasp
    Ellsberg’s report didn’t argue for one option over another—that’s not what Kissinger wanted. But he did try to subtly emphasize the benefits of his preferred option: peace talks and the withdrawal of American troops.
  20. inadequate
    lacking the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task
    Johnson watched Nixon take the oath of office, wondering what lay ahead. “I reflected on how inadequate any man is for the office of the American Presidency,” he later recalled. “The magnitude of the job dwarfs every man who aspires to it.”
  21. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    But if Kissinger did not exactly relish the president’s company, he did come to admire Nixon’s intelligence, and his willingness to make bold moves.
  22. discreet
    marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint
    He really wanted to read it. Halperin, who was working for Kissinger, hesitated—he couldn’t have word leaking out that the study existed. Ellsberg promised to be discreet.
  23. implication
    a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
    “What was the implication of saying that the majority of South Vietnamese wanted the war to be over no matter who won?” he wondered. “What did that say about the legitimacy of imposing our will to continue the war?”
  24. concession
    a point that is yielded
    Nixon knew there was no realistic military path to victory in Vietnam—not at a cost that would be acceptable to the American people. The challenge, as he saw it, was to somehow convince North Vietnam to make concessions at the bargaining table.
  25. solemnity
    a trait of dignified seriousness
    “But at the same time,” Kissinger warned, “I have been asked to tell you in all solemnity, that if by November 1 no major progress has been made toward a solution, we will be compelled—with great reluctance—to take measures of the greatest consequences.”
  26. preposterous
    inviting ridicule
    It seemed a preposterous way to confront the colossal power of the United States government.
  27. collate
    assemble in proper sequence
    He worked the machine and Russo carried the copies to Sinay’s desk, where he collated the pages into neat stacks.
  28. waver
    be unsure or weak
    “Don’t get rattled,” Nixon jotted on a notepad. “Don’t waver—don’t react.”
  29. lull
    a pause during which things are calm
    After a brief lull at the start of Nixon’s presidency, the war protests had been growing lately.
  30. notwithstanding
    despite anything to the contrary
    The note on his pad notwithstanding, Nixon was rattled.
  31. retrospect
    contemplation of things past
    Only in retrospect would he realize how unfair it was to Mary to put her in the middle of a dispute between her parents.
  32. devise
    come up with after a mental effort
    Russo, who helped out many nights, devised the time-saving innovation of taping two strips of cardboard to the glass of the Xerox machine. When they laid a sheet of the study on the glass, the cardboard covered the “Top Secret” stamps, but not the text on the page.
  33. infuse
    fill, as with a certain quality
    “He had the same dedication, but it was infused with a compassion, and a humanity,” she later said.
  34. articulate
    characterized by clear expressive language
    He spoke quickly, gesturing with his hands. “He was articulate,” recalled Jones, “but nervous.”
  35. impeccable
    without error or flaw
    Kissinger and Le Duc Tho sat in red easy chairs, a few feet apart. Tho, fifty-nine, had gray hair and manners Kissinger later described as “impeccable.”
  36. volley
    rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms
    Caputo couldn’t believe it. “To answer stones and bad language with a random volley of .30-caliber bullets was not imaginable in America,” he later reflected.
  37. omission
    leaving out or passing over something
    “You failed to mention Indochinese casualties, or refugees, or bombing tonnages, which in fact are trending up,” he said. “By your omission, you are telling the American people that they need not and ought not care about impact on the Indochinese people.”
  38. imminent
    close in time; about to occur
    Over the next two and a half years, the tape machines picked up nearly four thousand hours of meetings and phone conversations—including an excellent record of the president’s imminent showdown with Daniel Ellsberg.
  39. tenacity
    persistent determination
    Thirty-five, with round glasses and thick black hair, Sheehan was a veteran reporter with what one colleague called “bulldog tenacity” and “an almost perfect nose for news.”
  40. fretful
    nervous and unable to relax
    He could see that both Daniel and Patricia were exhausted, and thought Dan seemed particularly fretful.
  41. fallout
    any adverse and unwanted secondary effect
    As the paper’s in-house lawyer, it would be his job to advise the editors about the possible legal fallout from publishing classified documents.
  42. willful
    done by design
    James Goodale cautioned that if they published the Pentagon Papers, Nixon would likely come after them using the Espionage Act. Passed in 1917, this law states that anyone who “willfully communicates or transmits” documents related to national defense to others who are not authorized to see them can be fined and/or sent to prison.
  43. abridge
    lessen, diminish, or curtail
    Besides, he added, the most important relevant law was the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
  44. facade
    the front of a building
    Behind the imposing facade, the building looked like what it was—a prison.
  45. intermittent
    stopping and starting at irregular intervals
    The forecast called for clouds and intermittent rain all day.
Created on Tue Sep 10 18:32:49 EDT 2019 (updated Mon Sep 23 15:50:11 EDT 2019)

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