"The press is the enemy"
About this Quote
“The press is the enemy” isn’t just a complaint; it’s a framing device. Nixon’s genius, and danger, was his ability to take a messy democratic friction (journalists digging, politicians stonewalling) and compress it into a clean moral binary: us versus them. The line works because it doesn’t argue with reporting on the merits. It delegitimizes the institution that makes the argument possible.
The intent is tactical. By naming the press as “enemy,” Nixon shifts attention from allegations and evidence to loyalty and siege. In that posture, scrutiny becomes sabotage, and unfavorable stories become proof of conspiracy rather than signals of accountability. The subtext is a demand for deference: if the press is hostile by definition, then the administration’s secrecy isn’t evasiveness; it’s self-defense. That rhetorical move also gives supporters permission to ignore facts that sting. You don’t have to refute an enemy; you just have to defeat or dismiss them.
The context matters: late-1960s/early-1970s America was awash in institutional distrust, from Vietnam to civil rights unrest, and the media’s investigative power was cresting. Nixon’s relationship with reporters was already poisoned by resentment and paranoia, and Watergate would turn that paranoia into a governing strategy. This isn’t merely a personal vendetta; it’s an early template for modern political communication, where attacking the referee becomes the easiest way to keep playing. By making the press the antagonist, Nixon tried to make himself the protagonist of a drama in which oversight is treason and power is virtue.
The intent is tactical. By naming the press as “enemy,” Nixon shifts attention from allegations and evidence to loyalty and siege. In that posture, scrutiny becomes sabotage, and unfavorable stories become proof of conspiracy rather than signals of accountability. The subtext is a demand for deference: if the press is hostile by definition, then the administration’s secrecy isn’t evasiveness; it’s self-defense. That rhetorical move also gives supporters permission to ignore facts that sting. You don’t have to refute an enemy; you just have to defeat or dismiss them.
The context matters: late-1960s/early-1970s America was awash in institutional distrust, from Vietnam to civil rights unrest, and the media’s investigative power was cresting. Nixon’s relationship with reporters was already poisoned by resentment and paranoia, and Watergate would turn that paranoia into a governing strategy. This isn’t merely a personal vendetta; it’s an early template for modern political communication, where attacking the referee becomes the easiest way to keep playing. By making the press the antagonist, Nixon tried to make himself the protagonist of a drama in which oversight is treason and power is virtue.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
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