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The Checkers speech or Fund speech was an address made on September 23, 1952, by the Republican vice presidential candidate, California Senator Richard Nixon. Nixon had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses. With his place on the Republican ticket in doubt, he flew to Los Angeles and delivered a half-hour television address in which he defended himself, attacked his opponents, and urged the audience to contact the Republican National Committee (RNC) to tell it whether he should remain on the ticket. During the speech, he stated that regardless of what anyone said, he intended to keep one gift: a black-and-white dog who had been named Checkers by the Nixon children, thus giving the address its popular name. Nixon, as he related in his address, came from a family of moderate means, and had spent much of his time after law school either in the military, campaigning for office, or serving in Congress. After his successful 1950 Senate campaign, Nixon's backers continued to raise money to finance his political activities. These contributions went to reimburse him for travel costs, postage for political mailings which he did not have franked, and similar expenses. Such a fund was not illegal at the time, but as Nixon had made a point of attacking government corruption, it exposed him to charges he might be giving special favors to the contributors. The press became aware of the fund in September 1952, two months after Nixon's selection as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's running mate. Within a few days, the story grew until the controversy threatened Nixon's place on the ticket. In an attempt to turn the tide of public opinion, Nixon broke off a whistle-stop tour of the West Coast to fly to Los Angeles to make a television and radio broadcast to the nation; the $75,000 to rent the television time was raised by the RNC. The idea for the Checkers reference came from Franklin Roosevelt's Fala speech—given eight years to the day before Nixon's address—in which Roosevelt mocked Republican claims that he had sent a destroyer to fetch his dog, Fala, when the dog was supposedly left behind in the Aleutian Islands. Nixon's speech was seen or heard by about 60 million Americans, including the largest television audience to that time, and led to an outpouring of public support. A huge majority of the millions of telegrams and phone calls received by the RNC and other political offices supported Nixon. He was retained on the ticket, which then swept to victory weeks later in November 1952. The Checkers speech was an early example of a politician using television to appeal directly to the electorate, but has since sometimes been mocked or denigrated. ''Checkers speech'' has come more generally to mean any emotional speech by a politician. == Background == In 1950, California Congressman Richard Nixon was elected to the Senate, defeating Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas. With the six-year term secured, Nixon campaign officials discussed how to further his career. Campaign manager Murray Chotiner and campaign chairman Bernie Brennan proposed a year-round campaign for the next six years, leading up to a re-election bid in 1956. Nixon's Southern California campaign treasurer Dana Smith suggested what became known as "the Fund", to be administered by himself, which would pay for Nixon's political expenses. As Smith wrote to one potential contributor, money donated to the Fund was to be used for: As a senator, Nixon received an annual salary of $12,500 (about $150,000 in 2009 dollars). While he received an expense allowance of over $75,000, an amount larger than that of most senators since California was one of the most populous states, the money went to pay his staff of 12 and to cover the cost of stationery, telephone service, telegrams, and other office expenses. It also paid for the one set of round-trip airline tickets between Washington, D.C., and California that Nixon was allowed to buy for himself and his family at taxpayer expense each Congressional session. Nixon later characterized the attitude of his backers and aides as, "We want you to start campaigning right now for 1956, and we think the way to do it is to have available the funds to make speeches, make trips to California, and so forth." Contributors were drawn only from his early supporters, and contributions were limited to $1,000. Nixon was not to be informed of the names of contributors; however, the fundraising letter stated that Nixon "will of course be very appreciative of your continuing interest". By October 30, 1951, some $16,000 had been raised, of which Nixon had spent approximately $12,000, principally from contributors in the Los Angeles area. The senator's Christmas card expense for 1950 and 1951 totaled $4,237.54. Despite the initial fundraising success, only $2,200 could be raised from November 1951 to July 1952, and an engraving bill was unpaid pending a hoped-for contribution of $500. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Checkers speech」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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