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Words & Reflectionsof his intentions. While he ruminated,he found himself returning again andagain to the question Turner Catledge[then Managing Editor] had posed yearsago over drinks in his back-office Club,the place where Punch had gotten hisreal journalistic education: Who areyou writing this paper for? “That clearedit up, pretty much,” acknowledgedPunch. “We weren’t writing for thebenefit of the government; we werewriting for the benefit of the reader,who is entitled to know.”That still left the thorny issue ofwhether to publish the classified documentsthemselves or merely quote orparaphrase them. The day before hewas to render his final judgment, Punchdispatched his stalking horse, SydneyGruson, to see if Rosenthal could bepersuaded to alter his position aboutprinting the documents verbatim.Gruson made his pitch in the earlyevening while driving Rosenthalhome.… “No documents, no story,”said Rosenthal, who felt so stronglythat he had privately resolved to resignif Punch did not agree. Gruson relayedthe message back to Punch.On Friday morning, June 11,Rosenthal and Frankel gathered inPunch’s office to hear his decision.Neither editor had gotten much sleep;both were in a fog after weeks of worryand hard work. With a serious, deadpanexpression, Punch made his pronouncement:“I’ve decided you canuse the documents”—at which pointthere was a slight pause, and then headded—“but not the story.” In theirglassy-eyed state, it took Rosenthal andFrankel a moment to get the joke. Sothere would be no question about hisposition, Punch had prepared a formalmemo that stated: “I have reviewedonce again the Vietnam story and documentsthat would appear on Sunday,and I am prepared to authorize theirpublication in substantially the form inwhich I saw them.” The secret historywas to appear as a series of articles overseveral days rather than in a singleissue. If the federal government securedan injunction to stop publication,the Times would honor it.…After two days of publishing the“Vietnam Archive,” the AttorneyGeneral’s office threatened the paperwith a lawsuit.Bancroft called Loeb, who advisedthe Times to obey the attorney general,but when Bancroft seemed inclined toagree, Rosenthal demanded that Punchmake the final call. At about 2:00 A.M.London time, Punch was roused froman untroubled sleep at the Savoy Hotel.In New York, his voice was broadcastover a speakerphone, and asGoodale recalled, “Punch sounded like‘I wish I weren’t publisher of The NewYork Times. I wish this would go away.’”Punch asked what everyone thought,and as Goodale listened to the variousopinions, he sensed that the publisherwas especially influenced by the argumentsof Bancroft and Loeb and that hewas going to halt publication. Defianceof the attorney general would almostcertainly mean a court fight starting thenext day. The Times had done its dutyand published the first two installments,and there was every incentive not totangle with Washington over classifieddocuments. Finally, Punch askedGoodale whether continuing to publishwould increase the paper’s liability.“Not by five percent,” he replied.With that, Punch indicated, albeitwith great ambivalence, that the papershould continue publication. “He reallynever was comfortable with thewhole thing,” Goodale said later. “Hewas generally persuaded that it was acrime.” When Rosenthal returned tothe third-floor newsroom, the 150people waiting to hear the publisher’sverdict erupted in cheers. Punch’s decisionto proceed with the series was inmany respects more courageous thanhis original one. No longer were thestakes theoretical, and the penaltieswere potentially grave.…On Tuesday, June 15, the third installmentof the Pentagon Papers appeared,along with a front-page accountof [Attorney General] Mitchell’stelegram, his telephoned threat toBrownell, and the Times’ response.“The most satisfying headline I’ve everseen in the Times is the one that read‘Mitchell Seeks to Halt Series on Vietnambut Times Refuses,’” Rosenthaltold Time magazine. Later that day, asexpected, the attorney general went tofederal court and persuaded a judgewho had been sitting on the bench foronly five days to issue a temporaryrestraining order to halt further publicationof the Pentagon Papers.Although Punch had made it clearthat he was willing to defy the attorneygeneral’s request, he had made itequally clear that he would abide bythe courts. The New York Times suspendedpublication, marking the firsttime in the nation’s history that a newspaperwas restrained in advance by acourt from publishing a specific article.…The attorney general’s attempt tomuzzle the Times accomplished whatthe Pentagon Papers themselves hadbeen unable to: it provoked the outrageof the national media and focusedattention on what the purportedly explosivedocuments actually revealed.As important, the relationship betweenthe press and government became thesubject of public debate, with thenation’s most respected and Establishment-mindedpaper leading the charge.Punch and the Times staff suddenlyfound themselves regarded as heroesin certain circles.…Punch flew back to New York theday after the restraining order was issued.At an airport press conference,and in the many interviews he gaveover the next few days, he eloquentlyargued the Times’ case. “This was not abreach of national security,” he explained.“We gave away no nationalsecrets. We didn’t jeopardize any Americansoldiers or marines overseas. Thesepapers…are part of history.” As forcharges that he had published classifiedmaterial, he remarked, “I thinkthat is a wonderful way, if you’ve gotegg on your face, to prevent anybodyfrom knowing it; stamp it SECRET andput it away.” When he was asked whohad made the decision to publish thePentagon Papers, Punch gestured tohis chest with his pipe and silentlymouthed, “Me.” ■© 1999 by Susan E. Tifft and Alex S.Jones. By permission of Little, Brownand Company (Inc.).66 Nieman Reports / Fall 1999