62 years ago tonight on Sept. 23, 1952, 60 million Americans listened on television and radio as Richard Nixon, under enormous pressure to step aside as Eisenhowers Vice Presidential running mate because of charges that he had a secret slush fund, said he never profited personally from the contributions. Nixon said he was guilty only of accepting a pet dog, Checkers, which he said he would not give back ( ... our little girl, Tricia, the 6-year-old, named it Checkers. And you know, the kids love that dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, were going to keep it.) Public reaction to the speech was strong for Nixon, and the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket went on to win the election in a landslide. Nixon got the idea for the Checkers reference from President Franklin D. Roosevelts Fala speech, which FDR delivered exactly 8 years earlier during a heated re-election campaign against Republican Thomas Dewey. FDR mocked Republican claims that he had sent a destroyer to get his dog, Fala, when he was supposedly left behind on the Aleutian Islands (Well, of course, I dont resent attacks, and my family doesnt resent attacks, but Fala does resent them! ... He has not been the same dog since). Nixon saw how successful FDRs use of his dog had been in making much political hay, and decided to do the same with Checkers -- and, as with FDR, it worked! youtube/watch?v=I9LcAJOsFGg
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 15:20:13 +0000
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