The Grand Old Party: An Intimate Autopsy of how Paranoia, Prejudice, and Criminal Conspiracy Corroded American Democracy, One Year at a Time

This is the first installment in an ongoing series examining presidential corruption takes us through Nixon’s criminality year by year, using his own secret White House recordings as evidence.

The piece traces Nixon from 1969—when he sabotaged Vietnam peace talks before taking office and immediately began illegal surveillance operations—through his 1974 resignation. Key revelations include: the War on Drugs was deliberately designed to target Black communities and anti-war protesters; Nixon authorized break-ins and surveillance so extreme even J. Edgar Hoover objected; and the White House tapes capture shocking bigotry against Jews, Italians, Mexican Americans, and Black Americans.

The Watergate break-in of 1972 was completely unnecessary—Nixon won re-election in a landslide. But his paranoia drove him to personally orchestrate the cover-up from day one. The unraveling came through 1973’s Senate hearings and the revelation of the taping system, culminating in the Saturday Night Massacre…