Skip to main content Americans forget that the goal of the U.S. Constitution wasn’t efficient governing — it was tyrant prevention. Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Steve Northup/Getty Images D uring the last period of his time as president, while the Watergate scandal was raging, Richard Nixon allegedly told several U.S. representatives that he could get on the telephone, issue an order, and soon after millions of people would be killed. It wasn’t hyperbole.