Structure

Most Dangerous Man in America is separated into three main parts: Part I: Insider; Part II: Secrets and Lies; and Part III: Outsider. The main parts separate the story as the titles suggest. In Part I, Daniel Ellsberg is described as an “insider” because of his position as an analyst at the Pentagon. He was a Rand Corporation employee who was attached on special assignment to the Pentagon. After graduation from Harvard, he joined the Marines and served a tour of duty as a lieutenant. He is shown as an upstanding citizen, a patriot and a Cold War Warrior. He wasn’t a war hawk but he wanted the U.S. to emerge victorious in their fight to stop the spread of communism in Indochina.

In Part II he begins to see the contrast between how the Vietnam War is really going and the press releases about...