Checkers speech

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The "Checkers speech" was given by Richard Nixon on September 23, 1952, when he was the Republican candidate for the Vice Presidency. The speech, broadcast nationwide from the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood,McLellan, D. (2006, May 18). Lou Carrol, 83: Gave Nixon the Puppy Made Famous in the "Checkers Speech". [Los Angeles Times] was one of the first political uses of television to appeal directly to the populace.

Nixon, having been accused of accepting $18,000 in illegal campaign contributions, gave a live address to the nation in which he revealed the results of an independent audit that was conducted on his finances, exonerating him of any malfeasance. The money, he asserted, did not go to him for personal use, nor did it count as income, but rather as reimbursement for expenses. He followed with a complete financial history of his personal assets, finances, and debts, including his mortgages, life insurance, and loans, all of which had the effect of painting him as living a rather austere lifestyle. He denied that his wife Pat had a mink coat, instead she wore a "respectable Republican cloth coat."

The one contribution he admitted receiving was from a Texas traveling salesman named Lou Carrol who gave his family a cocker spaniel, which his daughter named "Checkers." [Louis Carrol obituary], Chicago Tribune, May 17, 2006. Carrol later explained that he had heard a radio report that Pat Nixon was looking for a puppy for Tricia and Julie, and his own dog had just had a litter. After a telegram exchange, he crated the puppy and shipped it by rail to Washington. Nixon admitted that this gift could be made into an issue by some, but maintained that he didn't care, stating "the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it."

Nixon then challenged Democratic Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson to give a similar public account of his finances, and attacked alleged corruption in the Truman administration. Furthermore he accused Truman's foreign policy of being a failure that led to the Korean War. He ended with an appeal to the public to wire and write to the Republican National Committee to give their advice on whether he should remain the Vice-Presidential nominee.

The speech was a resounding success. Nixon, whom many expected to be dropped from the ticket, gained widespread sympathy and remained Eisenhower's running mate. The speech is nevertheless often the subject of ridicule.

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