Editing Daniel Ellsberg (section)

==Early life and career==
Ellsberg was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 7, 1931, the son of Harry and Adele (Charsky) Ellsberg. His parents were [[Ashkenazi Jews]] who had converted to [[Christian Science]], and he was raised as a Christian Scientist. In 2008, Ellsberg told a journalist that his parents considered the family Jewish, "but not in religion."<ref>Jewish Telegraphic Agency June 16, 2023</ref>

Ellsberg grew up in Detroit and attended the [[Cranbrook Schools|Cranbrook School]] in nearby [[Bloomfield Hills, Michigan|Bloomfield Hills]]. His mother wanted him to be a [[Pianist#Classical pianists|concert pianist]], but he stopped playing in July 1948, two years after both his mother and sister were killed when his father fell asleep at the wheel and crashed the family car into a bridge [[abutment]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml_ZepYWGdkC&pg=PA36|title=Wild Man: The Life and Times of Daniel Ellsberg|first=Tom|last=Wells|year=2001|pages=36, 39, 70–95, 267|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|via=Google Books|isbn=9780312177195}}</ref>

Ellsberg entered [[Harvard College]] on a scholarship, graduating ''[[Latin honors#Distinctions|summa cum laude]]'' with an [[Bachelor of Arts|A.B.]] in economics in 1952. He studied at [[King's College, Cambridge]], for a year through funding from the [[The Institute for Citizens & Scholars|Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation]], initially for a diploma in economics and then changed his credits toward a PhD in the subject, before returning to Harvard.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.umass.edu/ellsberg/document/letter-from-cambridge-university-general-board-of-faculties-to-daniel-ellsberg-february-5-1953/ | title=Letter from Cambridge University General Board of Faculties to Daniel Ellsberg, February 5, 1953 &#124; }}</ref> In 1954, he enlisted in the [[United States Marine Corps]] and earned a commission.<ref name=bookragsbio/> He served as a platoon leader and company commander in the [[2nd Marine Division]], and was discharged in 1957 as a [[first lieutenant]].<ref name=bookragsbio/> Ellsberg returned to Harvard as a Junior Fellow in the [[Harvard Society of Fellows|Society of Fellows]] for two years.<ref name=bookragsbio/>