At the 1952 Republican national convention, young Senator Richard M. Nixon was chosen to be the running mate of presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon had enjoyed a spectacular rise in national politics. Elected to Congress in 1946, he quickly made a name for himself as a militant anti-Communist while serving on the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1950, at age 38, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and became an outspoken critic of President Truman’s conduct of the Korean War, wasteful spending by the Democrats, and also alleged Communists were in the government. But Nixon’s rapid rise in American politics came to a crashing halt after a sensational headline appeared in the New York Post stating, “Secret Rich Men’s Trust Fund Keeps Nixon in Style Far Beyond His Salary.” The headline appeared just a few days after Eisenhower had chosen him as his running mate. Amid the shock and outrage that followed, many Republicans urged Eisenhower to remove Nixon from the ticket before it was too late. Nixon, however, in a brilliant political maneuverer, took his case directly to the American people via the new medium of television in a nationwide hookup.
With his wife sitting stoically nearby, Nixon offered an apologetic explanation of all of his finances, including the now-famous lines regarding his wife’s “respectable Republican cloth coat” and the tale of a little dog named Checkers given as a present to his young daughters. “…I want to say right now that regardless of what they say, we’re going to keep it.” He turned the last section of his address into a political attack, making veiled accusations about the finances of his opponents and challenging them to provide the same kind of open Although it would forever be known as Nixon’s “Checkers Speech,” it was actually a political triumph for Nixon at the time it was given. Eisenhower requested Nixon to come to West Virginia where he was campaigning and greeted Nixon at the airport with, “Dick, you’re my boy.” The Republicans went on to win the election by a landslide.
The Essay on The strengths and weaknesses of the American Political system
Identify and comment on what you see to be the strengths and/or weaknesses of the American system as far as the topics in this section are concerned. The constitutional system of the United States is a puzzling aspect of an American's life. Many do not understand. Some think they understand it and with their slight grasp of it they try to offer solutions to better it. I would like to offer a ...
Bibliography:
Ambrose, Stephen E. Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962. Chicago: Simon & Shuster, 1987. Brodie, Fawn M. Richard Nixon: The Shaping of His Character. San Francisco: W.W. Norton & Company, 1981. ?Free Republic.? http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a76702.htm Morris, Roger Richard Milhous Nixon: The Rise of an American Politician. New York: Henry Holt & Company Inc., 1990. Nixon Eisenhower, Julie Pat Nixon: The Untold Story. New York: Juldee Inc., 1986. Randolph, Sallie G. Richard M. Nixon President. London: Walker Publishing Company Inc., 1989. ?Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace.? http://www.nixonfoundation.org/ Schuman, Michael A. Untied States Presidents: Richard M. Nixon. New York: Enslow Publishers Inc., 1998 ?The History Place: Great Speeches Collection.? http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/nixon- checkers.htm
?The Richard M. Nixon Homepage.? http://www.stanford.edu/~andygray/nixon/
