Video: 'Checkers Speech (full version)'

(Tuesday, September 23, 1952, 9:30 p.m. EDT, during the 1952 United States presidential election campaign) — U.S. Senator Richard Nixon, 39, salvaged his vice presidential nomination on the Republican ticket tonight by appearing on television from Los Angeles to refute allegations of improper campaign fundraising in what became known as the “Checkers speech.”

The California lawmaker had been accused of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses.

His place was in doubt on the Republican ticket, so 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 he intended to keep one gift, regardless of the outcome: a black-and-white Cocker Spaniel that his children had named Checkers, thus giving the address its popular name.

Video: 'PBS Nixon (1990)_1of3' (Nixon scandal at 31:04)

Nixon came from a family of modest means, as he related in the address, and he had spent his time after law school in the military, campaigning for office, and serving in Congress.

After his successful 1950 Senate campaign, his 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 Nixon had made a point of attacking government corruption, which exposed him to charges that 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, and the story quickly grew until it threatened his place on the ticket.

Video: 'Television & the Presidency Part 2' (Sept. 23, 1952, at 1:47)

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 and make a television and radio broadcast to the nation; the RNC raised $75,000 to buy the television time.

The idea for the Checkers reference came from Franklin D. 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 and heard by about 60 million Americans, including the largest television audience at that time, and it led to an outpouring of public support. The RNC and other political offices received millions of telegrams and phone calls supporting Nixon.

He was retained on the ticket, which swept to victory weeks later in November 1952.