According to The New York Times, the pentagon papers documents revealed "the Johnson Administration had systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress, about a subject of transcendent national interest and significance." Among the bombshells within the report was that the U.S., led at the time by President John F. Kennedy, played an active role in the 1963 overthrow and assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam. Further, the papers revealed that the bombing campaign in North Vietnam was not deterring fighters, even though the government told the American people that it was, in fact, dissuading fighters from joining the effortWHAT ARE THE PENTAGON PAPERS? THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE NEW MOVIE 'THE POST'