Imagine a president of the United States without any checks from Congress. Imagine a news media that is afraid to criticize that president or let the public know about government corruption or lies that may affect people's jobs, their families, or the nation. Imagine elections where only one candidate has any real chance of winning. What else would that president or a future president do? Imagine the Constitution with no meaning and a Bill of Rights that protects no rights at all. Richard Nixon wanted to be a great president. By 1972, however, his dark side became too strong. Most Americans didn't know it yet, but the president they had just reelected-and the men he chose as his closest advisors and aides-were a real danger to the American democracy. But the president and his men were in danger, too. The framers had designed a system of government that could survive a president who put himself above the presidential oath, above the Constitution, and above the law. The system would work-if enough people made it work. Book jacket.