Checkers

The “Checkers” speech was delivered in response to the Fund Crisis of 1952. Richard Nixon had been accused of accepting secret campaign donations from anonymous sources and of using these funds for his own personal expenses. This accusation brought turbulence to his campaign with Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had pledged to clean up corruption in Washington. This Fund Crisis generated significant conflict between Nixon and Eisenhower. Though Eisenhower showed public support for his running mate, pressure for Nixon to resign is what ultimately prompted him to make this address.

The 1952 election was the first in over 20 years in which there was no incumbent running for either president or vice president. Nonetheless, Eisenhower and Nixon tried to tie their Democratic opponents, Adlai Stevenson II and John Sparkman, to the perceived failures of the outgoing, Democratic Truman administration. As part of this strategy, Nixon frequently makes disparaging references in his speech to “the present Administration” (Paragraph 2). Later in the speech, he also pointedly claims that Stevenson has been selected for the presidency by Truman.

Eisenhower’s campaign strategy was designated internally as “K1C2,” for Korea, communism, and corruption. The plan was to take advantage of public dissatisfaction with the war in Korea (which had reached a stalemate after three years of bloody combat), fears around the spread of communism both globally and within the US, and accusations of corruption within the Truman administration.