THE PRESIDENTS, THE PRESS
The New York Times and other American newspapers have performed a most valuable service to the public not only of the United States but of all other countries whose governments are susceptible to the pressures of informed public opinion, in baring the thinking behind much of the American executive action during the escalation of the Vietnam war in the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson.
The newspapers were absolutely right to publish. It is unfor- tunate, but hardly surprising, that President Nixon has sought to halt the continuing publication of the details. In so doing he has, temporarily at any rate, diverted attention away from the revelations themselves and onto the question of the freedom of the press. It will be little short of disastrous if the constitutional freedom of the American press becomes curbed because of a Supreme Court ruling. The power at the disposal of an American president and his advisers is such that the chief curbs and restraints upon it, such as the press and the Supreme Court, should strive constantly to uphold each other's freedom and authority.
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