Nixon's Enemies

Notes from America with Kai Wright

WNYC Studios

News Commentary, Politics, History, News

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2017

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week we’re looking at a President Richard M. Nixon, a man obsessed with winning. Whether it was an election or becoming a great leader, he would go to great lengths to ensure his success. But Nixon felt he was surrounded by enemies, so to make sure he triumphed, he had his staff create an “Enemies List:” a document with hundreds of people he thought could do him harm. It was part of the White House "Political Enemies Project," and included people ranging from some of Hollywood’s biggest stars to members of the media to business and labor leaders. “It just so unpresidential for presidents to have enemies," said John Dean, Nixon’s White House Counsel who disclosed the existence of the list when he testified before the Senate Watergate committee. “I mean, theoretically, the President is the President of the United States, not the President of the Republican or Democratic Party, or the President of the people who voted for him. We don't like to think of our leaders as being that narrow-minded that they think everybody is their enemy who isn't their friend.” Beyond it’s existence, the list was also remarkable because Nixon and his aides considered using it to try and find ways to use the power of the federal government to go after their enemies. How? One way was through the IRS. Charlie Herman looks at Nixon’s infamous “Enemies List,” an unprecedented step taken by an embattled President who worried about being betrayed by everyone around him. Episode Contributors: Kai Wright Charlie Herman Karen Frillmann Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We began this season right about the 100 day mark of the Trump administration.
0:04.8	And I said in the first episode that we were going to get out of the new cycle so we could
0:08.6	think about the broader context.
0:10.5	We've done that.
0:11.5	But listen, we don't live on Mars the building questions about the president and abuse of power clearly loom over everything and of course that has seriously revived interest in another president.
0:23.7	Here we have the president of the United States firing the head of the FBI
0:29.4	because of the investigation that he was conducting.
0:32.2	Well, the president of the United States is not
0:35.2	above the law. Now Trump's recent tweets suggest he's trying to draw a distinction between
0:41.8	this situation and Watergate. one of his points is that Comi told him he was not under investigation by Comi at the time he fired Comi.
0:51.0	Cox was clearly investigating Nixon. How much does that exonerate Trump in your opinion?
0:56.5	Not at all. President of the United States is not above the law and cannot dictate who is going to be held accountable and in what manner.
1:05.9	That's former New York Representative Elizabeth Holtzman.
1:08.9	She said on the Congressional Committee that investigated Watergate and she's talking onC's Brian Larishow there.
1:15.0	And yeah, we too see the Nixon parallels.
1:18.0	And they've got us thinking about two specific moments
1:21.0	in the Nixon era that feel particularly relevant in today's
1:25.0	political culture. I'm Kywright, this is the United States of Anxiety, Culture Wars,
1:30.2	and this is the first of two episodes in which we're going to look back at
1:34.4	Richard Millhouse Nixon. You are, you are.
1:44.0	U.S.
1:45.0	H. H. H. H. H. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M. M.
	...

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