PLOT
In 1965 Vietnam, State Dept. military analyst Daniel Ellsberg accompanies U.S troops in combat, documenting the progress of U.S. military activities in the region for Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara. On the return flight home, McNamara expresses to Ellsberg and President Lyndon Johnson his view that the war in Vietnam is hopeless. Years later, now working for a civilian military contractor, Ellsberg surreptitiously photocopies classified reports documenting the progress of the ongoing Vietnam War, dating back to the Truman administration. He leaks these documents, which detail more than 20 years of clandestine U.S. activities and frank admissions that the war has been going poorly, to reporters at The New York Times.
Trailer: The Post
Washington D.C. newspaper heiress Katharine Graham tries to balance her social life with her responsibility as owner of The Washington Post , a newspaper she took over following the suicide of her husband, who had succeeded her father. She is conflicted over preparations for the newspapers IPO, a move she recognises as important to strengthening the paper, but fears losing family control. She lacks confidence in her ability as a woman to lead the organisation, frequently overruled by more assertive men who advise or work for her, such as editor in chief Ben Bradley and board-member Arthur Parsons.
Bradley notices that the Times' investigative reporter Neil Sheehan has not published any articles in some time. He concludes that Sheehan is working on something big, and tries in vain to catch up with the paper's scoop. Meanwhile, McNamara, Graham's longtime friend, confides to her that he's about to be the subject of unflattering coverage by the Times . This turns out to be an expose of the government's long-running deception of the American public. However the series is halted by a court injunction against further publication by the Times.
Post assistant editor Ben Bagdikian tracks down Elisberg as the source of the leak , who provides Bagdikan with copies of the same material given to the Times. A small team of Post reporters sort through the disorganised papers, trying to piece together parts of the larger story. The Post's lawyers become aware of the project and advice against publishing the material, lest the Nixon administration bring criminal charges against them.
Graham fields the input and advice of the men around her, including McNamara, Bradlee and trusted Post chairman Fritz Beebe, agonising over the decision of whether to publish. If the legal fallout goes badly, she could destroy the newspaper she sees as a family legacy, but if they are successful, it could instead establish it as an important journalistic institution. She chooses to run the story.
The White House retaliates, and in short order the Post and Times are together before the Supreme Court to plead their First Amendment argument for the freedom to publish the material. Meanwhile, newspapers across the country have picked up the story, acting in solidarity with them. The court rules 6-3 in the newspapers favour, vindicating Graham's decision.
Nixon is overheard demanding that the Post be barred from the White House, just as a security guard discovers a break-in in progress at the Watergate office complex.
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