Nixon Checkers Speech

Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda California on his father’s lemon farm. Richard Nixon was the second of five children born to Frank Nixon and Hannah Milhous. Unfortunately, two of his brothers died. In 1925, Richard Nixon’s younger brother died and in 1933, his older brother, whom he greatly admired, died of tuberculosis. His ancestors emigrated from Ireland in the 18th century, and settled in Pennsylvania and Indiana. In 1922, Richard Nixon and his family moved to Whittier, California after the lemon farm failed. Richard Nixon regularly attended Quaker services and experienced a rough childhood, having an abusive father and manipulative mother. He attended Whittier High School where he came in second for student body president. Graduating second in his class, he was offered a scholarship to Harvard but was not able to afford the travel and tuition, so enrolled Whittier College, a quaker institution. He excelled as a student and leader. He became the freshman class President and, as a senior, student body president. Richard Nixon was unable to really excel in football. He graduated second in his class, in 1934, and received a scholarship to Duke Law School. The Whittier College president wrote, “I believe Nixon will become one of America’s important, if not great leaders.”

On the evening of September 23, 1952 former President Richard Nixon, then senator of California addressed issues regarding counter critics who claimed he took $18,000 contribution and used it for personal expenses. His purpose was to persuade Americans of his moral innocence. The speech that was not named but due to the fame of the speech it became known as Checkers Speech, as Nixon admits that his family dog, Checkers was a political gift. Nixon appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos throughout his speech by persuading to credibility, emotions, and reasoning.

The transgressions uncovered during the Watergate break-in investigation discouraged Americans by shattering their belief in Presidential infallibility. As Richard Nixon’s chief-of-staff, H.R. Haldeman, said, “…comes a very clear thing: you can’t trust the government; you can’t believe what they say; and you can’t rely on their judgment; and the – the implicit infallibility of presidents, which has been an accepted thing in America, is badly hurt by this, because it shows that people do things the President wants to do even though it’s wrong, and the President can be wrong.” These words expressed the sentiment of most Americans following Watergate and the publicity surrounding the investigation and President Nixon’s subsequent resignation.

What was going on in the United States or in the world at the time that made the speech important?

Richard Nixon had lost the election against John F Kennedy in 1960. In 1968 Nixon ran again and won on the promise of returning law and order to the country, thus starting the push-back that created the “hangover” of the 70s. Nixon’s definition of “law and order” fell in line with that of the working class or as Nixon had called them “forgotten

President Richard M. Nixon’s administration had to face many international and domestic challenges in the United States between 1968 and 1974, some positive and some negative. His achievements in expanding peaceful relationships with both China and the Soviet Union are contrastingly different with his continuation of the Vietnam War. In the end, Nixon’s scandals and abuse of presidential power caught up to him, and his administration did much to corrode America’s faith in the government.

Throughout history, political leaders of the United States were, at one time, thought of as vital pioneers of our progressive society. As president, they vow to take the responsibility to represent America and its people with integrity. Unfortunately, over the years, our trust in our executive legislatures has radically deteriorated. This shift within public and governmental assurance has echoed all throughout history, but peaks at the height of an unexpected scandal. The 1970’s began on a path of disparity and hesitation due to the radical events and assassinations that shaped America’s mentality in the 1960’s. In a nation divided, Richard M. Nixon stepped in as 37th president in 1969 with a mission to resolve the trailing aftermath of the

The main claim in Nixon’s “Checkers” speech was that he was innocent from accepting funding for his personal

Sworn to office as the thirty-seventh President of the United States, Richard Nixon took on the challenge of leading America during hard times. War overseas in sued and a divided nation was left back home. However, taking the issues at hand Nixon was able to stop wars in Viet Nam, improve relations with China, but was left forever stained with the great “Watergate Scandal.”

Taking the oath of office in January of 1969, Nixon was thrown head-first into a war that was escalating quickly and, at the same time, infuriated many Americans who believed that it wasn't the nation's job to be world police. Now holding the reigns of the country, he was stuck in a Vietnam predicament -- his first decisions would be of utmost importance for the safety of our soldiers and for the well-being of the nation. Nixon had very few plausible options however. While a vocal sector of the public was clamoring for immediate withdrawal of troops, he understood that its disadvantages were too great -- not only would withdrawal compromise American credibility as a world power, he felt that it would also undermine his ability to negotiate with foreign powers during the remainder of his term (Bondi 237). Nuclear weapons were also not an alternative. We were still involved in the Cold War with the USSR -- if we opted to nuclear weapons, not only would we most likely end up instigating a World War III, we could not risk setting the precedent by using nuclear warfare to dictate world order (Bondi 237). Nixon's last choice, attempting to persevere for a conventional military victory in Vietnam, was a large risk to our

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States of America. He was born in Yorba Linda, California. He was born to Francis Anthony Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon. He also was the second of five children, all boys. His brothers Harold and Arthur, died at an early age for him, when Harold died at 24. he was 20, and when Arthur died at 7 years old, Richard was only 12 years old. He was born on a ranch, living in a home his father had built. When the ranch didn’t prosper, the Nixon family moved to Whittier, California, to be closer to Hannah’s family. In 1930, he became enrolled in Whittier College, studying interests such as, drama, football, and student government. He then later graduated 7 years later, in June of 1937. In January of 1938, a mere year after he graduated, he enrolled himself in Whittier College once again, but this time, to pursue his new interest of law firm. Whilst continuing studying he met a Schoolteacher whose name was Thelma Catherine Ryan, who went by “Pat” for short. They married on June 21st, 1940. In January 19742, they moved to Washington D.C. After quitting his job, at the Office of Price Administration, he joined the Navy, where he served in Combat Air Transport Command. In 1946, at the end of the war, Republicans encouraged Nixon to run for congress, and in November of 1946, he won over the seat by more than 15,00 votes.

On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford delivered a speech that stunned the nation. Thirty days after former President Richard Nixon’s resignation from office due to the infamous Watergate scandal, President Ford chose to pardon him of any wrongdoing. This decision was extremely unpopular with the general public. For the most part, the public believed that Nixon needed to receive some form of punishment for his actions. President Ford knew this and delivered his speech in an attempt to explain his unpopular decision and quell the response. However, President Ford failed in his goal. While President Ford established his credibility and effectively appealed to the listener’s emotions, he failed to logically support his reasoning, relying too much an emotional appeal.

Republican, Richard Nixon was elected the 37th president of the United States serving from 1969 to 1974. He saw many accomplishments while in office: he ended American Fighting in the Vietnam, he ended the draft, passed anticrime laws, started a broad international environmental program, appointed Justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court, reduced tensions with China, signed a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons, and he saw the first man land on the moon. Ultimately though the Watergate Scandal led Nixon to resign from office and showed how inside the White House walls, everything is not always politically correct. In All the President’s Men, the amazing reporting effort by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein show how

In the early 1970’s, President Richard Milhous Nixon was a popular president among many people in the United States. However, he managed to change the view of the American government for the worse. Stealing documents from his rival party, covering up his actions over and over again. And finally getting caught of his actions, a distrust of their government by their citizens was created. But how had it occurred? Why did Nixon do this? Why did he cover it up over and over again? What steps and actions had led to Nixon’s resignation? Because of the Watergate Scandal, the American citizens understood that the American Government can be deceiving to its citizens.

When Richard Nixon was elected as president of the United States in 1968, he entered office with high hopes for his term. America was in the midst of a war in Vietnam, and Nixon believed that because of his extensive knowledge of worldwide affairs, he could be the president to bring about positive change and peace in this area. Although Nixon desired to obtain “peace with honor,” his approach to the war in Vietnam and the actions that he took ultimately led to a defeat for the United States and left many devastating legacies.