19. He Was So Paranoid That He Actually Had His Brother Donald's Phone Tapped By The Secret Service
Nixon was so paranoid while President that, not only was he implicated in the plot to spy on the Democrats during the Watergate Scandal and the subsequent cover-up, he even asked for his brother's phone to be tapped by the Secret Service. Donald Nixon (pictured above, second right) was a controversial figure and when his brother ran for President he faced questions about whether or not he had handed out a political favour to help keep his sibling's drive-in restaurant business afloat. Some historians have even speculated that one of the main motives that led to the 1972 Watergate burglary was Nixon's desire to find proof that the Democrats were using his brother in order to feed misinformation to him. This paranoia led to the phone tapping of his own brother, and obviously the Watergate Scandal.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
