September 23
CHECKERS SPEECH DAY
We’re not referring to the game of checkers, here. This is about a dog named Checkers. The dog, a cocker spaniel, belonged to former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. This presidential dog was different than Him and Her, Lyndon Johnson’s beagles; Ronald Reagan’s two dogs, Lucky and Rex, George Bush’s pet dog, Millie or even Bill Clinton’s buddy, Buddy. Abraham Lincoln’s Fido, Harry S Truman’s two dogs, Mike and Feller and Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Heidi were also never part of a political controversy.
Checkers, however, was the subject of a speech given this day in 1952 by Mr. Nixon, then a candidate for vice president. In the televised speech, he stated that he would not give back a gift -- whether it had political ties or not -- because it was a present for his daughter.
The gift in question was Checkers and the speech was forever referred to as the “Checkers Speech.”
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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