Apparently perceiving a conspiracy of Democrats, the press and liberal elites, the president is seething. Those around him have never seen him so angry.
He declares that something must be done 鈥� no matter what form it takes. He acts irrationally. And a special unit in the White House is created to hunt down and punish those responsible. This sets in motion a chain of events that lead to articles of impeachment. And three years later the President resigns in disgrace.
The president in question was Richard Nixon, and the source of his anger was the leaking of the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, Washington Post and other papers. Leaks 鈥� the disclosure of inside information 鈥� have challenged many presidents. But so far, Nixon is the only one that was forced to resign.
When the stories from the Papers started appearing, one of Nixon鈥檚 former top aides said that 鈥渁 hatred of the press, a need to stop the leak and teach the leakers a lesson, caused Nixon to go over the brink, to lose his sense of balance鈥� to create the climate that led to Watergate鈥︹��
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrXlY6gzTTM
This is the story told in Steven Spielberg鈥檚 latest movie, The Post, a highly entertaining account of the battle to publish the Pentagon Papers 鈥� the top-secret government account of U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam. Spielberg rushed to finish movie in just under seven months, inspired to defend the importance of a free press.
Eventually the Supreme Court upholds the newspapers鈥� right to publish. Justice Hugo Black writes that the purpose of the media is to 鈥渟erve the governed not the governors鈥� arguing that 鈥渙nly a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.鈥�
Back in the White House, spurred on by Nixon鈥檚 fury, the 鈥減lumbers鈥� move from investigating leaks to darker work, including a series of burglaries -- actions that will eventually lead directly to Nixon鈥檚 resignation.
Many see parallels with today鈥檚 White House, and a president also prone to lash out in anger at the Press, Democrats, liberal elites and others. Once again there鈥檚 also a special prosecutor with wide-ranging powers following his footsteps. And once again, the media is playing a critical first amendment role - bringing a spotlight to bear on those in power.
But unlike the movie, we just don鈥檛 yet know where this particular story will end.
