Fund speech

E228314

The Fund speech, better known as Richard Nixon’s 1952 “Checkers speech,” was a nationally televised address in which he defended himself against accusations of financial impropriety and famously mentioned his family dog, Checkers.

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Label Occurrences
Fund speech canonical 1

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf campaign speech
political speech
televised address
accusationsAddressed secret political expense fund
aim to appeal directly to the American public
to clear Richard Nixon of corruption allegations
alsoKnownAs Checkers speech
Richard Nixon’s 1952 Checkers speech
audience American voters
broadcastNetwork ABC
CBS
NBC
broadcastOn television
context 1952 United States presidential election
1952 United States vice-presidential campaign
country United States of America
surface form: United States
date 1952-09-23
duration approximately 30 minutes
genre political oratory
hasSubject campaign fund controversy
historicalSignificance early example of using television to address a political scandal
famous example of political image-making in U.S. history
language English
legacy frequently studied in courses on political communication
often cited as a classic American political speech
location Los Angeles, California, United States of America
surface form: Los Angeles, California
medium live television broadcast
mentions Checkers (play)
surface form: Checkers

Nixon family finances
Pat Nixon
namedAfter Checkers (play)
surface form: Checkers
notableElement mention of family dog Checkers
officeSoughtBySpeaker Vice President of the United States
politicalPartyOfSpeaker Republican Party
result Richard Nixon’s 1952 U.S. vice‑presidential campaign
surface form: Richard Nixon remained on the Republican ticket

helped preserve Nixon’s political career
rhetoricalStrategy direct address to viewers at home
emotional appeal
use of personal narrative
runningMateOfSpeaker Dwight D. Eisenhower
setInPeriod Cold War
post–World War II United States politics
speaker Richard Nixon
topic campaign finance
defense against accusations of financial impropriety
personal integrity
year 1952

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Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Checkers speech alsoKnownAs Fund speech