View source for Neil Sheehan

{{Short description|American journalist (1936–2021)}}
{{About|the journalist|the record label owner|StandBy Records}}
{{other people|Cornelius Sheehan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Neil Sheehan
| image              =
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Cornelius Mahoney Sheehan
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1936|10|27}}
| birth_place        = [[Holyoke, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2021|1|7|1936|10|27}}
| death_place        = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| death_cause        = 
| education          = [[Harvard University]]
| years_active       = 
| spouse             = 
| occupation         = [[Journalist]]
| website            = 
}}
'''Cornelius Mahoney Sheehan''' (October 27, 1936 – January 7, 2021) was an American journalist. As a reporter for ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified ''[[Pentagon Papers]]'' from [[Daniel Ellsberg]]. His series of articles revealed a secret [[United States Department of Defense]] history of the [[Vietnam War]] and led to a [[U.S. Supreme Court]] case, {{ussc|name=New York Times Co. v. United States|volume=403|page=713|year=1971}}, which invalidated the United States government's use of a restraining order to halt publication.<ref name="case">{{cite web|title=''New York Times Co. v. United States'', 403 U.S. 713 (1971)|url=https://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/403us713.htm|access-date=December 5, 2005}}</ref>

He received a [[Pulitzer Prize]] and a [[National Book Award]] for his 1988 book ''[[A Bright Shining Lie]]'', about the life of Lieutenant Colonel [[John Paul Vann]] and the United States involvement in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pulitzer Prize-winning author Neil Sheehan dies at 84 |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/pulitzer-prize-winning-author-neil-sheehan-dies-at-84/article33527087.ece |work=The Hindu |date=8 January 2021 |language=en-IN}}</ref>

==Early life==
Sheehan was born in [[Holyoke, Massachusetts]] on October 27, 1936.  His father, Cornelius Joseph Sheehan, worked as a dairy farmer; his mother, Mary (O'Shea), was a housewife.  Both immigrated to the United States from [[Ireland]].<ref name="NYT obit">{{cite news|title=Neil Sheehan Dies at 84; Times Reporter Obtained the Pentagon Papers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/business/media/neil-sheehan-dead.html|first=Janny|last=Scott|date=January 7, 2021|access-date=January 8, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> He was raised on a dairy farm near Holyoke. Sheehan graduated from Mount Hermon School (later [[Northfield Mount Hermon]]) and [[Harvard University]] with a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in history (''[[cum laude]]'') in 1958. He served in the [[U.S. Army]] from 1959 to 1962, when he was assigned to [[Korea]] and then transferred to [[Tokyo]]; there, he did work moonlighting in the Tokyo bureau of [[United Press International]] (UPI).<ref name="NYT obit"/>

==Career==
{{See also|Xá Lợi Pagoda raids}}
Following his discharge, Sheehan spent two years covering the war in [[Vietnam]] as UPI's [[Saigon]] bureau chief. In 1963, during the [[Buddhist crisis]], Sheehan and [[David Halberstam]] debunked the claim by the [[Ngo Dinh Diem|Ngô Đình Diệm]] regime that the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam]] regular forces had perpetrated the [[Xa Loi Pagoda raids|Xá Lợi Pagoda raids]], which U.S. authorities initially accepted.  They showed instead that the raiders were [[ARVN Special Forces|Special Forces]] loyal to Diệm's brother, [[Ngo Dinh Nhu|Nhu]] out to frame the army generals. In 1964, he joined ''[[The New York Times]]'' and worked the city desk for a while before returning to the [[Far East]], first to [[Indonesia]] and then to spend another year in Vietnam.<ref name=AoA>{{cite web |title=Neil Sheehan Biography and Interview |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]] |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/neil-sheehan/#interview |access-date=February 25, 2025 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014054134/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/neil-sheehan |archive-date=October 14, 2018}}</ref> Sheehan was one of numerous U.S. and international journalists who received valuable information from [[Pham Xuan An]], a 20-year veteran correspondent for ''[[Time Magazine]]'' and ''[[Reuters]]'', later revealed to also be a spy for the [[National Liberation Front for South Vietnam]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/12/11/spy-saigon-vietnam-books-cx_daa_1211perfectspy.html|title=The Spy Of Saigon|website=Forbes.com|access-date=January 7, 2021}}</ref>

In the fall of 1966, he became the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] correspondent. Two years later, he began reporting on the [[White House]]. He was a correspondent on political, diplomatic, and military affairs. After being notified of their existence by [[Marcus Raskin]] and Ralph Stavins at the [[Institute for Policy Studies]], Sheehan copied the ''[[Pentagon Papers]]'' for the ''Times'' on March 2, 1971,<ref>[http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/4284-1/Neil+Sheehan.aspx Author Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012002236/http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/4284-1/Neil+Sheehan.aspx |date=October 12, 2012 }}; C-SPAN; October 22, 1988</ref><ref name=wildmanreviewinreason>{{Cite news|last=Young |first=Michael |title=The devil and Daniel Ellsberg: From archetype to anachronism (review of ''Wild Man: The Life and Times of Daniel Ellsberg'') |newspaper=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] |page=2 |date=June 2002 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_2_34/ai_85701104 |access-date=July 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830070005/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_2_34/ai_85701104/ |archive-date=August 30, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="AP obituary 2023">{{cite web|last=Italie|first=Hillel|url=https://apnews.com/article/daniel-ellsberg-vietnam-war-pentagon-papers-12f57b417c372c1b8760a21d447cb502|title=Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked Pentagon Papers exposing Vietnam War secrets, dies at 92|website=Associated Press of New York|date=June 16, 2023|access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Chokshi 2017">{{cite web | title=Behind the Race to Publish the Top-Secret Pentagon Papers|last=Chokshi|first=Niraj | website=The New York Times | date=December 20, 2017 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/20/us/pentagon-papers-post.html | access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Sanger Scott 2021">{{cite web | last1=Sanger | first1=David E. |last2=Scott|first2=Janny|last3=Harlan|first3=Jennifer|last4=Gallagher|first4=Brian|title='We're Going to Publish': An Oral History of the Pentagon Papers | website=The New York Times | date=June 9, 2021 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/09/us/pentagon-papers-oral-history.html|archive-date=June 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613071158/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/09/us/pentagon-papers-oral-history.html| access-date=June 26, 2023}}</ref> against leaker and Vietnam-era acquaintance [[Daniel Ellsberg]]'s wishes. He made the copies with the help of his wife Susan in numerous copy shops in Boston, then they flew with the copies to a hotel room at [[The Jefferson]] in Washington for reading, before mailing them to his editor [[James L. Greenfield]]'s apartment, then he worked with Greenfield and a large team of editors, writers and lawyers on organizing the copies for publication in the [[New York Hilton Midtown]], as he would later reveal in 2015.<ref name="Scott 2021">{{cite web | title=How Neil Sheehan Got the Pentagon Papers |last=Scott|first=Janny| website=The New York Times | date=January 7, 2021 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/pentagon-papers-neil-sheehan.html | access-date=June 25, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Sanger Scott 2021"/> The U.S. government tried to halt publication and the case, ''[[New York Times Co. v. United States]]'' (403 U.S. 713), saw the U.S. Supreme Court reject the government's position and establish a landmark [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] decision. The exposé would earn ''The New York Times'' the [[Pulitzer Prize for Public Service]].<ref name="NYT obit"/>

In 1970, Sheehan reviewed ''Conversations With Americans'' by [[Mark Lane (author)|Mark Lane]] in the ''[[New York Times Book Review]]''. He called the work a collection of Vietnam War crime stories with some obvious flaws which the author had not verified. Sheehan called for more thorough and scholarly work to be done on the [[war crimes]] being committed in Vietnam.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|last=Sheehan|first=Neil|title=Conversations with Americans|work=The New York Times|date=December 27, 1970|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/27/archives/conversations-with-americans-conversations-with-americans.html|access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref>

Sheehan published an article in the ''[[New York Times Book Review]]'' on March 28, 1971, entitled "Should We have War Crime Trials?".  He suggested that the conduct of the Vietnam War could be a [[crimes against humanity|crime against humanity]] and that senior U.S. political and military leaders could be subject to trial.  In response, the Pentagon prepared a detailed rebuttal justifying its conduct of the war and exonerating senior commanders, however, the rebuttal was never released due to the belief that it would only exacerbate the issue.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hammond|first=William|title=The U.S. Army in Vietnam Public Affairs The Military and the Media 1968-1973|publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History|year=1996|url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/091/91-2/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913060001/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/091/91-2/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 13, 2012|isbn=978-0160486968|pages=493–4}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

Sheehan published his first book, ''The Arnheiter Affair'', in 1972.  [[Marcus Aurelius Arnheiter]], the subject of the book, proceeded to bring an action for [[United States defamation law|libel]] against Sheehan but was ultimately unsuccessful.<ref name="WP obit"/> Sheehan then secured an unpaid leave from the ''Times'' to work on a book about [[John Paul Vann]], a dramatic figure among American leaders in the early stages of the war in Vietnam. Two years later, in November 1974, Sheehan was badly injured in a road accident on a snowy mountain road in [[western Maryland]].  Sheehan's wife, the veteran ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'' staff writer [[Susan Sheehan]], chronicled details of the accident and its emotional, legal, and financial impact in a 1978 article for the magazine.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Sheehan|first1=Susan|title=The Accident|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1978/09/25/the-accident-2|access-date=August 24, 2015|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 25, 1978}}</ref> The time and effort spent fighting three libel suits in connection with his first book that endured until 1979, and Sheehan's lengthy recovery from his injuries, delayed work on his Vietnam book. After the ''Times'' ended his unpaid leave in 1976, he formally resigned from the newspaper to continue work on the book.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/15/magazine/when-will-the-book-be-done.html|title=When Will The Book Be Done?|first=Susan|last=Sheehan|date=April 15, 1990|access-date=January 7, 2021|website=[[The New York Times]]}} Author of ''Is There No Place On Earth For Me?'' which won the Pulitzer Prize For Nonfiction in 1983.</ref>

Although he received an advance of $67,500 (of which he was entitled to $45,000 prior to publication) from [[Random House]] in 1972, Sheehan – a "dreadfully slow" writer who "[chased after] the last fact" – mainly subsisted on lecture fees and fellowships from the [[John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation]] (1973–1974), the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Studies at the [[University of Chicago]] (1973–1975), the [[Lehrman Institute]] (1975–1976), the [[Rockefeller Foundation]] (1976–1977), and the [[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars]] (1979–1980) for the remainder of the 1970s.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1988/10/09/16-years-of-solitude/aefe6641-0675-4682-bdeb-405a4457dd86/|title=16 YEARS OF SOLITUDE|first=William|last=Prochnau|date=October 9, 1988|access-date=January 7, 2021|website=Washingtonpost.com}}</ref> According to William Prochnau, the latter fellowship marked a significant "turning point" for the book, as Sheehan "talked about Vietnam all day long every day" with [[Peter Braestrup]] after abandoning several hundred manuscript pages later characterized as a "false start" by Susan Sheehan.<ref name="nytimes.com"/><ref name="washingtonpost.com"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://search.marquiswhoswho.com/logon|title=Marquis Biographies Online|website=Search.marquiswhoswho.com|access-date=January 7, 2021}}</ref> When Sheehan finished "three-fifths of the manuscript" in the summer of 1981, the initial advance was renegotiated and raised to $200,000 with a projected delivery date of 1983, while [[William Shawn]] of ''The New Yorker'' agreed to excerpt the finished manuscript and advance funds as needed.<ref name="nytimes.com"/>

Still beset by health problems (including a [[pinched nerve]] and [[osteoarthritis]]), he eventually completed the book, ''A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam'', in 1986.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Edited by [[Robert Loomis]] and published in 1988, it was nominated for the [[Pulitzer Prize]]s in Biography and History and received the [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction]].<ref name=pulitzer>[http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/General-Nonfiction "General Nonfiction"]. ''Past winners & finalists by category''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved March 25, 2012.</ref> It also won the [[National Book Award for Nonfiction]].<ref name=nba1988>[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1988 "National Book Awards – 1988"]. [[National Book Foundation]]. Retrieved March 25, 2012.</ref> In 1990, Sheehan received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Roberts |first=Roxanne |date= May 4, 2003 |title= You Have A Dream |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2003/05/04/you-have-a-dream/64bb0f12-305d-4f0c-ad42-f29ca099ea87/ |newspaper= The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2003 |title=Neil Sheehan Biography Photo |url= https://achievement.org/achiever/neil-sheehan/|quote= Awards Council member Neil Sheehan presents Thomas L. Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, with the Academy's Golden Plate Award during the 2003 International Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

==Later life==
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?288939-1/qa-neil-sheehan ''Q&A'' interview with Sheehan on ''A Fiery Peace in a Cold War'', September 20, 2009], [[C-SPAN]]}} 
Sheehan released the book, ''After the War Was Over: Hanoi and Saigon'', in 1992.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5VuAAAAMAAJ|title=After the War was Over: Hanoi and Saigon|publisher=Random House|year=1992|last=Sheehan|first=Neil|isbn=9780679413912}}</ref>  It was inspired by his visit to Vietnam three years earlier.<ref name="NYT obit"/>  He published his last book, ''A Fiery Peace in a Cold War'', in 2009.  It detailed the story of [[Bernard Schriever]], who was the father of the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile system.<ref name="NYT obit"/><ref name="WP obit"/>

==Personal life==
Sheehan was introduced to his wife, [[Susan Sheehan|Susan Margulies]], by fellow reporter [[Gay Talese]].<ref name="WP obit">{{cite news|title=Neil Sheehan, N.Y. Times reporter who obtained Pentagon Papers and chronicled 'Bright Shining Lie' of Vietnam, dies at 84|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/neil-sheehan-ny-times-reporter-who-obtained-pentagon-papers-and-chronicled-bright-shining-lie-of-vietnam-dies-at-84/2021/01/07/86794382-f943-11e7-ad8c-ecbb62019393_story.html|first=Harrison|last=Smith|date=January 7, 2021|access-date=January 9, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>  She wrote for ''[[The New Yorker]]'' at the time,<ref name="WP obit"/> and subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for ''[[Is There No Place on Earth for Me?]]'' in 1983.<ref name=pulitzer/>  They married in 1965,<ref name="WP obit"/> and had two daughters (Catherine and Maria).<ref name="NYT obit"/>

Sheehan died on January 7, 2021, at his home in [[Washington, D.C.]]  He was 84, and suffered from complications of [[Parkinson's disease]] in the time leading up to his death.<ref name="NYT obit"/>

==Books==
* ''The Pentagon Papers as published by the New York Times'' (1971), {{ISBN|9780552649179}}
* ''The Arnheiter Affair'' (1972) – about [[Marcus Aurelius Arnheiter]], a U.S. Navy officer relieved of command in 1966<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VeQLAAAAIAAJ|title=The Arnheiter Affair|publisher=Random House|year=1972|last=Sheehan|first=Neil|isbn=9780394473635}}</ref>
* ''[[A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam]]'' (1988), {{ISBN|9781407063904}}
* ''After the War Was Over: Hanoi and Saigon'' (1992), {{ISBN|9780679745075}}
* ''A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon'' (2009), {{ISBN|9780679745495}}

==In popular culture==
Sheehan was portrayed by [[Jonas Chernick]] in ''[[The Pentagon Papers (film)|The Pentagon Papers]]'' (2003),<ref>{{cite news|title=The Pentagon Papers|url=https://variety.com/2003/tv/reviews/the-pentagon-papers-2-1200542977/|first=Michael|last=Speier|date=March 5, 2003|access-date=January 8, 2021|magazine=Variety}}</ref> and [[Justin Swain]] in ''[[The Post (film)|The Post]]'' (2017).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/5a1dee5109e95|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403001634/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/5a1dee5109e95|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 3, 2019|title=The Post (2017)|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=January 8, 2021}}</ref>  He appears as himself in [[Ken Burns]]' 2017 documentary series ''[[The Vietnam War (TV series)|The Vietnam War]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-vietnam-war/about/credits/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822041228/http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-vietnam-war/about/credits/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 22, 2017|title=Credits – The Vietnam War: A film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick|publisher=PBS|access-date=January 8, 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Archival records}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{C-SPAN}}

{{Buddhist crisis}}
{{Vietnam War correspondents}}
{{PulitzerPrize GeneralNon-Fiction 1976–2000}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheehan, Neil}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Holyoke, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Journalists from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American war correspondents of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:National Book Award winners]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction winners]]
[[Category:The New York Times journalists]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:Historians of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:20th-century American writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male journalists]]