The Checkers speech was an address made on September 23, 1952, by Senator Richard Nixon (R-CA) at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, six weeks before the 1952 United States presidential election, in which he was the Republican nominee for Vice President. Nixon 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 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.
