Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Which U.S. president was most notorious for maintaining an enemies list?
Executive summary
Most reporting and primary documents identify President Richard Nixon as the U.S. president most notorious for keeping an “enemies list,” an organized set of names and a broader “Political Enemies Project” created by White House aides that sought to “use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies” [1] [2]. The memo and expanded rosters ranged from an original 20 names to an expanded opponents list of roughly 200+ people, and the effort is tied directly to Watergate-era investigations and testimony [2] [3].
1. Nixon’s list: documentary evidence and explicit language
Contemporaneous memoranda and later reporting show the phrase and the plan in Nixon’s White House came from John Dean’s August 1971 memo describing how to “use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies,” language repeated across histories and primary documents about the project [1] [2]. The short, circulated “Enemies List” of about 20 names and an expanded “master” or “opponents” list compiled by Charles Colson’s office are documented in archival collections and were discussed during the Senate Watergate hearings [2] [3].
2. Scale and operational intent: more than a boast
While popular summaries sometimes treat the phrase as symbolic, archival descriptions and research-starter overviews show operational intent: the project explicitly contemplated using government levers — IRS audits, litigation, federal contracts, grant availability, and prosecution — against those identified as adversaries [1] [4]. The master list included roughly 220 individuals and organizations grouped by category, indicating an organized program rather than a casual gripe list [3] [5].
3. What actually happened — harassment attempts and limits
Reporting indicates Nixon aides attempted to leverage the IRS and other federal tools against listed individuals, but internal resistance and agency decisions limited some actions. For example, IRS Commissioner Donald C. Alexander refused to launch audits merely because names appeared on the list; although some pro-McGovern donors were audited in 1973, the larger plan did not translate into a systematic, administration-wide campaign of prosecutions documented in the sources provided [2] [6].
4. Why this stuck in public memory
Watergate hearings and John Dean’s testimony publicized the memos and cover sheets, making the enemies list a vivid emblem of presidential abuse of power; cultural references and historical exhibits (PBS, Nixon Library, university archives) have reinforced the image, and the phrase is repeatedly invoked in commentary comparing later political behavior to Nixon-era abuses [7] [8] [3].
5. Competing perspectives and nuance in interpretation
Some contemporary and later observers treat the list as evidence of paranoia and an intention to weaponize government (CIA reading room documents and news accounts emphasize paranoia), while other sources note practical limits — agency pushback and incomplete follow-through — that prevented the full deployment of federal machinery against most named individuals [9] [2]. Academic and archival summaries present both the explicit plan and the factual limits on execution [4] [3].
6. Precedent, successors, and how the phrase is used today
The Nixon enemies list became a shorthand for presidential retribution; modern opinion pieces and analyses compare later presidents’ actions to Nixon’s template while also arguing over degree and intent. For example, opinion columns reference the original memos and note similarities and differences when evaluating later administrations’ conduct [6]. Available sources do not mention specific, authenticated presidents other than Nixon with an equivalent, documented enemies-list program.
7. What the sources do and do not show
Primary memos, archived documents, and reputable histories consistently tie this phenomenon to Nixon’s White House and to named aides (Colson, Bell, Dean) — they document the wording, the lists, and public exposure in 1973 [2] [3] [1]. The sources substantiate intent and planning and show partial follow-through but do not support claims, within this set of materials, that another president maintained a comparable, documented enemies list; therefore, claims about other presidents are not found in current reporting provided here (not found in current reporting).
8. Bottom line for readers
If you ask which U.S. president is most notorious for maintaining an enemies list, the clear, documented answer from the archival record and mainstream histories is Richard Nixon — his administration produced an explicit memo advocating the use of federal machinery against opponents, a short “Enemies List,” and a broader opponents list numbering in the hundreds, and those materials were central in the Watergate investigations [1] [2] [3].