A whistleblower is defined as an individual who alerts the public or an organization to secretly engage in illegal or unethical activities. Throughout history, various people have leaked confidential information for some reason. From naval officers during the American Revolutionary War to the recent Edward Snowden case, this article explores ten of the most famous whistleblowers. Some of them sparked important international conversations, while others suffered mysterious deaths on dark interstate highways.
Samuel Shaw and Richard Marvin (1778)
Esek Hopkins was the commander-in-chief of the first U.S. Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Known for his impropriety and evil behavior, he often disobeyed George Washington's orders. At the time, British captives were expected to be treated fairly, so when probationary officer Samuel Shaw and Third Lieutenant Richard Marvin witnessed Hopkins torturing his captives, they openly opposed their superior officers despite the risk of being labeled traitors. Hopkins was suspended in January 1778. He immediately filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against the two men, prompting the Continental Congress to enact the first whistleblower protection law in July of the same year.
Julius Chambers (1872)
After graduating from Cornell University, Julius Chambers earned a position at the New York Tribune. He later became one of the first investigative journalists in the United States. In 1872, when rumors of prisoner abuse reached him, he became interested in the Bloomingdale Madhouse. With the help of some trusted friends, he himself committed to undercover work. Ten days later he was released and published in the Tribune exposing the truth. As a result, twelve patients were released and the entire institution was reorganized. Since then, Chambers has become a fierce advocate for the rights of people with mental illness and has fought for better care facilities and treatment.
Frank Serpiko (1967 – 1970)
Frank Serpico joined the New York Police Department in September 1959. He was an idealist who refused to accept bribes from his partners when he discovered systematic corruption within the Force. In 1967, he tried to deal with internal affairs by going to his superiors, but with little success, so in 1970 he went to The New York Times. After his story was published in the newspaper, the public attention was so high that it prompted the mayor to set up a Knapp Committee to investigate the allegations. In 1971, Selpiko was shot dead during a drug enforcement operation, which many saw as the result of police retaliation. After receiving the Medal of Honor the following year, Serpiko decided to retire from the army.
Vladimir Bukovsky (1971)
Since the early 1960s, Vladimir Bukovsky has used his platform as a human rights activist to speak out against the Soviet Union. After government officials announced he was mentally ill, he moved in and out of psychiatric hospitals and prisons for the next twelve years. While working in these institutions, Bukowski found that the Soviets labeled political opponents and other dissidents as mentally unstable in proof of justification for locking them up. In 1971, he managed to smuggle hospital records to the West as evidence of this unethical behavior. Five years later, he was expelled in exchange for imprisoned Communist Party leaders. Bukovsky settled in Cambridge and died many years later in 2019.
Daniel Ellsberg (1971)
Daniel Ellsberg, a U.S. military analyst who wrote the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret report detailing the country's involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. Documents show that the Johnson administration lied to Congress and the American public about their military operations in that part of the world. In 1971, Ellsberg leaked them to The New York Times. Nixon tried to prevent publication, but they were printed anyway. When the public learned of the bombings and coastal attacks, their trust in the government was shaken. Ellsberg was charged with espionage and theft of government property, but those charges were eventually dropped.
Mark Felt (1972 – 1974)
In June 1972, five men were immediately arrested for breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, an incident that came to be known as the Watergate scandal. In the months that followed, Deputy Director of the FBI Mark Felt worked under an anonymous pseudonym to leak classified information to The Washington Post. With the help of two journalists, he exposed richard Nixon and his administration's involvement and active cover-up of the break-in, forcing the president to resign. For years, speculation was made about whether Felt was the FBI informant known as Deep Throat, but until 2005, three years before Felt's death, the identity of the mysterious figure remained a secret.
Karen Silkwood (1974)
Karen Silkwood is a chemical technician at a plutonium plant run by Kerr-McGee. By 1974, she was concerned about the condition of the factory and the overall disregard for worker safety. In September, she referred the complaints to the Atomic Energy Commission. It turns out that the silk wood is contaminated with radioactivity. After having evidence of the company's negligence, she met with a Reporter for The New York Times in November. She died on the way. Investigators were unable to find the evidence folder in the wreckage of her car, which sparked speculation that it was an insider job to prevent her from leaking more information.
Jeffrey Wigander (1996)
In the early 1990s, Jeffrey Wigand served as vice president of research and development for Brown & Williamson, the third-largest tobacco company in the United States. There, he discovered that top management had deliberately tampered with their products, secretly adding additional carcinogenic and addictive ingredients. A clash with the company's CEO eventually led to his dismissal. In 1996, Wigand appeared on 60 Minutes and publicly accused Brown & Williamson of making their products more addictive. As a result, he received death threats, but his report interfered with the efforts of top management who tried to convince Congress that cigarettes were generally not addictive.
Linda Tripp (1997 – 1998)
Despite the wide age difference, Pentagon employee Linda Tripp forged friendships with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In 1997, tripp learned that the young woman was having an affair with President Bill Clinton and began secretly recording her. She eventually handed over the 20-hour tape to special counsel Kenneth Starr. These recordings played an important role in Clinton's impeachment trial in 1998. Tripp still insisted her motives were patriotic, but many believed she betrayed Lewinsky to avoid being accused of illegal wiretapping. In any case, she was eventually fired by the Pentagon. She died of pancreatic cancer in April 2020.
Edward Snowden (2013)
Edward Snowden worked for the National Security Agency as a government contractor when leaking highly classified information to newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. He insisted on printing his name next to information related to several global surveillance programs. The Justice Department accused him of espionage and theft of government property, but he managed to escape to Russia before they revoked his passport. Many Americans consider him a hero, while others see him as a traitor. Either way, we'll continue to engage in conversations about privacy and security, thanks in part to Snowden's whistleblowing.