Changes

<i>The Post</i> is a historical drama that depicts the publication of the <i>Pentagon Papers</i> that detailed thirty years of involvement by the United States in Vietnam. These documents had the effect of increased hostility to the war, as they demonstrated a negative view of the war by the US government at a time when the government gave a more positive view and increased the war effort. The film focuses on the publication of the papers and Katharine Graham, who was the first female publisher of a major US newspaper.

By 1971, the war had become less popular and the <i>Washington Post</i>, which was a major newspaper but needed financial stability and was trying to go public on the stock market, had come under the ownership of Katharine Graham. Ben Bradlee is the editor-in-chief and feels frustrated that the paper seems to always be bested by the <i>New York Times</i> in breaking major stories of the day. This seems to be the case, once again, when the<i>Times</i> publishes an expose on the <i>Pentagon Papers</i>, including McNamara's role in covering up the war effort. As the Pentagon report was suppose to be classified, the government, now under President Richard Nixon, gets an injunction from the court to halt further publication and stories on the topic. Meanwhile, Ben Bagdikian determined that the ultimate leak of the story and papers was Ellsberg, as he had made copies of the report. Copies of the same information the <i>Times</i> had were given to the <i>Post</i>, which now creates a dilemma: If the <i>Post</i> further tries to publish the documents then they could also be in contempt of a court order and Katharine Graham, who is ironically perhaps a friend with McNamara, could be put in jail and her newspaper ruined.<ref>For more on Katharine Graham and her role in the story, see: Graham, K. (2017). <i>The Pentagon papers: making history at the Washington Post</i>. Vintage.</ref>