Nixon’s Checkers Speech

September 23, 1952

Vice-Presidential candidate Richard Nixon gives his famous speech explaining an $18,000 campaign fund he was accused of using for personal expenses. He claimed the only personal gift he received was a cocker spaniel puppy named Checkers (1952-64) – which he refused to give up. An outpouring of public sympathy kept him on the ticket for vice president. His speech was watched or heard by about 60 million Americans, the largest television audience to that time. The term “Checkers speech” has now come to mean an emotional speech by a politician. Nixon gave this speech on the 8th anniversary of Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s Fala Speech about his dog.