Except for a four-year break, Peter MacDonald Sr. has ruled the 200,000-member Navajo nation as its strong-willed chairman ever since 1970. Presiding over a Southwest desert reservation larger in area than Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts combined, he has lived well on his $55,000 annual salary plus, according to witnesses, some expensive perks. Yet last week MacDonald lost his grip on his honored post. Tainted by allegations that he had accepted bribes from contractors seeking business with the tribe, he declared that he would take an extended leave, but then changed his mind and attempted to cling to power.
MacDonald insisted...
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