What was the Supreme Court case New York Times v United States about?

The Supreme Court case New York Times v United States was about the publication of the Pentagon Papers. The Pentagon Papers were a top secret study that was conducted by the United States Department of Defense about the Vietnam War. The study was leaked to The New York Times and The Washington Post in 1971, and the newspapers began publishing excerpts from the study. The United States government sued The New York Times and The Washington Post, arguing that the publication of the study would damage national security. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the newspapers, holding that the First Amendment protected the right of the newspapers to publish the study. The Court held that the government could not prevent the publication of information unless it could show that the information would cause irreparable harm to national security.