Guest Episode: Master Plan: The Kingmakers

About this episode

This episode explores the historical context and implications of the rise of an imperial presidency in America, focusing on Richard Nixon's actions during the Vietnam War.

We are sharing a special episode from Master Plan , the award-winning investigative series from our friends at The Lever. Its new season, The Kingmakers , traces the decades-long effort to manufacture an all-powerful presidency. Host David Sirota and his team of journalists investigate the rise of a once-fringe legal idea that has hijacked the machinery of American government. In this episode, you’ll go back more than 50 years, to a moment when Americans feared the rise of an “imperial presidency.” Richard Nixon’s attempts to seize the power of the purse and secretly expand the Vietnam War sparked a constitutional crisis, and a backlash, and set a template for the imperial presidency. To hear the rest of season two, follow Master Plan on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

People in this episode

Host: David Sirota

Topics covered

• investigative journalism
• imperial presidency
• constitutional crisis
• American government
• political history

Keywords

• imperial presidency
• Richard Nixon
• Vietnam War
• constitutional crisis
• investigative series

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Lever, Master Plan

Places: Vietnam

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