The Checkers Speech

- The Checkers speech was an address made by then United States Senator and Republican vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon on television and radio on September 23, 1952.
- Senator Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses.
- His place on the Republican ticket now doubt, the senator flew to LA and delivered a half hour television address in which he defended himself, attacked his opponents, and urged the audience to contact the Republican National Committee (RNC) to tell it whether or not he should remain on the ticket.
- During the speech, he stated that regardless of what anyone said, he intended to keep one of his gifts - a black-and-white dog named Checkers - thus giving the address its popular name.
- Nixon's speech was heard by about 60 million Americans, and led to an outpouring of public support for him.
- Nixon was of course retained by the ticket, which swept to victory in November 1952, and Nixon would be elected President 16 years later.
- The Checkers speech was an early example of a politician using television to appeal directly to the electorate, but has since sometimes been mocked or denigrated.
- "Checkers Speech" has come more generally to mean any emotional speech by a politician.

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