Harding Bancroft; Key Role in Publishing Pentagon Papers

Harding Foster Bancroft, 81, retired diplomat, lawyer and vice chairman of the New York Times who played a key role in the paper’s decision to print the Pentagon Papers. A Navy lieutenant in World War II, Bancroft in 1945 joined the Bureau of United Nations Affairs in the State Department. In 1951, he became deputy U.S. representative to a U.N. panel on peace. He joined the Times in 1956 as assistant secretary and associate counsel. His advice in 1971 helped publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger decide to publish the controversial Pentagon Papers concerning the Vietnam War. In Sarasota, Fla., on Thursday.