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During Richard Nixon’s presidency, members of his staff compiled a list of political opponents. As White House counsel John Dean put it, the purpose of the list was to “use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.” In addition to the original list of 20 “enemies,” Nixon’s staff put together a larger collection of political opponents, which Dean presented to the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973. This list included various politicians, journalists, business leaders, celebrities, and institutions. Think you can figure out who was on those lists? Let’s find out.
Take the Quiz: Were They On Nixon’s Enemies List?
What a crazy time in American history. Wasn’t Leonard Bernstein on the list, too?
posted by Leianne on 10-19-2009 at 11:36 am
Leianne: I don’t think Bernstein made the final lists, but he was on John Dean’s 1971 list of names of people “with the desire and capability of harming us.”
Anyone have any idea why the administration was worried about Bernstein?
posted by JR on 10-19-2009 at 12:01 pm
I do know that this list is not all of the persons or entities Nixon had on his list.
posted by Dandy on 10-19-2009 at 5:58 pm