Neil Sheehan
Encyclopedia
Cornelius Mahoney "Neil" Sheehan (born October 27, 1936) is an American
journalist
. As a reporter for The New York Times
in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified Pentagon Papers
from Daniel Ellsberg
. His series in the Times revealed a secret U.S. Department of Defense
history of the Vietnam War
and resulted in government attempts to halt publication. The resulting case, New York Times Co. v. United States
(403 U.S. 713), saw the Supreme Court reject the government's position, and became a landmark First Amendment
decision. This exposé would earn The New York Times
a Pulitzer Prize
.
, Sheehan graduated from Mount Hermon School (later Northfield Mount Hermon
) and Harvard University
with a B.A.
in 1958, served in the U.S. Army
from 1959 to 1962. In 1962 he began working at the United Press International
's Tokyo
bureau, and spent the next two years covering the war in Vietnam
as UPI's bureau chief. In 1963, during the Buddhist crisis
, he and David Halberstam
debunked the claim by the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem
that the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
regular forces had perpetrated the Xa Loi Pagoda raids
, which the American authorities initially believed, and that instead the Special Forces loyal to Diem's brother Ngo Dinh Nhu
had done so to frame the army generals.
In 1964 he joined The New York Times. He worked the city desk before returning to the Far East
to report from Indonesia
and then to spend another year in Vietnam
. In the fall of 1966 he became the newspaper's Pentagon
correspondent and in 1968 began reporting on the White House
. He was a correspondent on political, diplomatic and military affairs. In 1971 he obtained the Pentagon Papers
for the Times.
In the New York Times Book Review, December 27, 1970, he claimed that Conversations With Americans by Mark Lane
was a collection of Vietnam war crime stories with some obvious flaws which the author had not verified. Sheehan called for a more thorough and scholarly work to be done on the war crimes being committed in Vietnam.
He was awarded a nonfiction Pulitzer Prize
in 1989 and a National Book Award
for A Bright Shining Lie
about the life of Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann
and the United States involvement during the Vietnam War
. (The book was published by Random House
and edited by Robert Loomis
.)
His wife, Susan Sheehan
, also was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for Is There No Place On Earth For Me?
As of 2009, Sheehan lived in Washington D.C.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. As a reporter for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified Pentagon Papers
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967...
from Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg, PhD, is a former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War,...
. His series in the Times revealed a secret U.S. Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
history of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and resulted in government attempts to halt publication. The resulting case, New York Times Co. v. United States
New York Times Co. v. United States
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 , was a United States Supreme Court per curiam decision. The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censure.President Richard Nixon had...
(403 U.S. 713), saw the Supreme Court reject the government's position, and became a landmark First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
decision. This exposé would earn The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
.
Life and career
Born on a farm in Holyoke, MassachusettsHolyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range of mountains. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 39,880...
, Sheehan graduated from Mount Hermon School (later Northfield Mount Hermon
Northfield Mount Hermon
Northfield Mount Hermon School, commonly referred to as NMH, is a co-educational independent boarding high school for students in grades 9–12...
) and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1958, served in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
from 1959 to 1962. In 1962 he began working at the United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
's Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
bureau, and spent the next two years covering the war in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
as UPI's bureau chief. In 1963, during the Buddhist crisis
Buddhist crisis
The Buddhist crisis was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam from May 1963 to November 1963 characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance, led mainly by Buddhist monks....
, he and David Halberstam
David Halberstam
David Halberstam was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and historian, known for his early work on the Vietnam War, his work on politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and his later sports journalism.-Early life and education:Halberstam...
debunked the claim by the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
that the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
regular forces had perpetrated the Xa Loi Pagoda raids
Xa Loi Pagoda raids
The Xa Loi Pagoda raids were a series of synchronized attacks on various Buddhist pagodas in the major cities of South Vietnam shortly after midnight on August 21, 1963...
, which the American authorities initially believed, and that instead the Special Forces loyal to Diem's brother Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngô Ðình Nhu was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Diệm. Nhu was widely regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's nepotistic and autocratic rule over South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963...
had done so to frame the army generals.
In 1964 he joined The New York Times. He worked the city desk before returning to the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
to report from Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and then to spend another year in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. In the fall of 1966 he became the newspaper's Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
correspondent and in 1968 began reporting on the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. He was a correspondent on political, diplomatic and military affairs. In 1971 he obtained the Pentagon Papers
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967...
for the Times.
In the New York Times Book Review, December 27, 1970, he claimed that Conversations With Americans by Mark Lane
Mark Lane (author)
Mark Lane is an American lawyer who has written many books, including Rush to Judgment, one of two major books published in the immediate wake of the John F. Kennedy assassination that questioned the conclusions of the Warren Commission. Another book, Plausible Denial, published in 1991, continued...
was a collection of Vietnam war crime stories with some obvious flaws which the author had not verified. Sheehan called for a more thorough and scholarly work to be done on the war crimes being committed in Vietnam.
He was awarded a nonfiction Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in 1989 and a National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for A Bright Shining Lie
A Bright Shining Lie
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam is a book by Neil Sheehan, a former New York Times reporter who covered the Vietnam War. It is about retired U.S...
about the life of Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann
John Paul Vann
John Paul Vann was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, later retired, who became well known for his role in the Vietnam War.-Early life:...
and the United States involvement during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. (The book was published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
and edited by Robert Loomis
Robert Loomis
Robert Loomis is an executive book editor at Random House, where he has worked since 1957. He has been called "one of publishing's hall of fame editors."...
.)
His wife, Susan Sheehan
Susan Sheehan
Susan Sheehan , is an American writer.Born in Vienna, Austria, she won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1983 for her book Is There No Place on Earth for Me?. The book details the experiences of a young New York woman diagnosed with schizophrenia...
, also was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for Is There No Place On Earth For Me?
Is There No Place On Earth For Me?
Is There No Place On Earth For Me? written by Susan Sheehan and published in 1982 by Houghton Mifflin, it won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. This book recounts the lonely, harrowing life of Sylvia Frumkin who is diagnosed schizophrenic....
As of 2009, Sheehan lived in Washington D.C.
Books
- The Pentagon Papers as published by the New York Times, 1971
- The Arnheiter AffairMarcus Aurelius ArnheiterMarcus Aurelius Arnheiter , was a retired U. S. Navy officer, known for being relieved of command of the USS Vance after only 99 days.-Early life and education:...
, 1972 - A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. 861 pp. New York: Random House. 1988
- After the War Was Over, 1992
- A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon, 2009
External links
- Conversation with Neil Sheehan
- Neil Sheehan Papers at the Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
- American Writers C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
2002 RTSPReal Time Streaming ProtocolThe Real Time Streaming Protocol is a network control protocol designed for use in entertainment and communications systems to control streaming media servers. The protocol is used for establishing and controlling media sessions between end points...
videos. - Critical review of Sheehan and other Vietnam War historians and journalists