Some have wondered if Senator Richard Nixon lied to and manipulated the people when he spoke to regain his own integrity. This is a subject that many have questioned about the past politicians. The text,"Checkers" was delivered by Senator Richard M. Nixon in 1952. The text was published by AmericanRhetoric.com. Senator Nixon wrote this text for the American people to presuade them to believe he is an honest man. When Senator Nixon was accused of taking $18,000 from his supporters illegally; he spoke about how the money was used to save the American taxpayers from having to pay for his political business. Next, Senator Nixon talked about his independant audit and finacial background, so he could prove that the money did not go towards his personal gain. Senator Richard Nixon also expressed how important and hard working his wife is, and the fact that they planned and saved for their houses and all of their belongings. Continuing, Senator Nixon questioned whether or not his opponents were as honest and full of integrity as they protray themselves to be, and blamed the Truman Acheson Administraton, that his opponents supported, for the war against communism. Finally, Senator Nixon left it to the American people to deside whether or not he should stay in the running for Vice President. In a well written speech, Senator Nixon compells the audience by useing appeals to ethos, pathos and logos; he claims that he would never use the money for personal gain, depicts the perfect picture of him and his wife, and expresses how inferior his opponents are in comparision.
Therefore, Senator Nixon builds his ethos to show Americans that he would never use the money to benefit himself or his family. In Senator Nixon's speech he requested an indep...
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...o peoples emotion because in the picture he illustrated their family is just like most care, loving and loyal American families. After Senator Nixon expresses how great he is, he downgrades his opponents by explaining that they are not the best canidates and claims that they support communism, so Americans would question their integrity just as much as they have questioned his. By doing this Senator Nixon forces the people to stop blaming him and to blame his opponents. This brings into question if Senator Nixon is an honest man or just a superb speaker that knows what the people want to hear; leading to the real question of are any polititions honest men or are they just exceptionable at lieing and manipulating? Sadly, most people don't think to question it.
Works Cited
Eidenmuller, Michael E. "Checkers." American Rhetoric. American Rhetoric, n.d. Web. Mar. 2014.
In 1952, Nixon dodged a political advantage. While running for Vice President with Dwight D. to the meaning of by supporters. Nixon decided to go on national TV with a live speech, inviting investigation of his finances and stating that no donor had asked for or received any favors. He wanted to make sure the public knew he was not a crook. The emotional clincher was his to not only undertint but to cherish a cocker spaniel puppy named Checkers. “I want to say right now that regardless of what they say, we’re going to keep it.” .He was paranoid. He made a joke out of it and let the people truly know he was a self-made man.
Nixon showed hubris, which is also known as egotistical behavior or exhibiting too much pride. He thought that he deserved to be reelected as president, even if in order for this to occur he had to behave in an unethical manner. The Watergate Scandal proved that Nixon was confident in his ability to pull off a major crime, although he was caught. This event also shows prideful behavior because he thought he could control the law and the election, even if he wasn’t the rightful winner.
President Richard Nixon is most commonly known for his involvement with the Watergate Scandal. President Nixon is a very competitive politition who has been finding who his enemys are and what their weak spots are through all of his career. His purpose for doing this is that he wants to win the election so much and he feels that “the only way he can [win] is if he knows something about his opponent that can give himself some secret weapon” (Sussman 201). President Nixon got himself into many problems during his Presidency and used groups such as “The Plumbers” and the Committee to Re-Elect the President, more commonly known as CREEP. While President Nixon was in office, he seemed to feel that he was “above the law” and that he could create undercover groups to spy or even blackmail his opponents. Although Nixon did commit several crimes while in office, which include lying under oath…….., the main crime was in the forming of these groups like the Plumbers, because these groups were formed with a main purpose of breaking laws.
He opens with a strong statement about god, “As we are a nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God” (13). He strikes emotion while also sharing personal views as he states that we are a country unified under God and that he not only relies on himself, but on god, which tends to strike emotion in religious peoples. He states his belief that Richard Nixon should be pardoned of all accusations regarding the watergate scandal. He also speaks about how Nixon wouldn’t be treated fairly and how, if a trial was held, it could never be settled, and if it were against him, his punishment would be cruel and unjust. The expression of belief gets the reader thinking about the real overlook of the situation, and how it is all handled, the emotions striving to express forgiveness and a new outlook on Richard
Historians on the opposing side believe that Nixon had a choice, but he choose the wrong one. He wanted to cover up the Watergate Scandal, and that was the turning point of his presidency. Maurice H. Stans explains, “Nixon was not a party to the Watergate break-in. That has been established, especially by the White House tapes beginning in June 1972, which showed his initial consternation at learning about it.” (Nixon 178) He could have turned the guilty party to the police, but he thought that it would end up hurting him.
Nixon’s run as an international crook finally caught up to him in 1972, when burglars were caught and arrested inside of the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate hotel complex in Washington. Nixon attempted to cover it up, but eventually he was found caught in his own web of lies, and was forced to resign in 1974 (Lecture 30, December 12). Nixon’s promises of a return to normalcy were shattered with these revelations. The confidence in the Presidency that he had hoped to restore was even lower than it was when he entered office. If the 1960’s were defined by political and social instability, then Richard Nixon did nothing but further the sixties into the 1970’s. The 1960’s truly ended with the pardon of Richard Nixon by President Ford in 1974. After doing so, Ford declared: “our long national nightmare is over”.
The day after his Cambodia speech Nixon told a crowd at the Pentagon:"You see these bums, you know, blowing up campuses. Listen, the boys that are on the college campuses today are the luckiest people in th...
...l. Although we still have not found an exact cure for cancer, we do have ways to get rid of some cancers through either surgery or chemotherapy. These breakthroughs have all started from the push that Nixon gave to start public health care. Richard Nixon’s legacy is one of helping the public, and creating lasting foreign affairs. He is an agent of change for his determination to make America a better country, which he believed was the job of the President of the United States. This determination has given people the comfort of public health care and the world a better sense of environmental protection. He was compassionate, determined, and strong-willed to make America better. His want and desire to make life better for America and the people living in America gave him the drive to create these lasting policies that are still constantly used today.
Another very important factor was Nixon’s previous experience in politics. After graduating from Duke University, Nixon joined the navy during World War II. After returning from the war Nixon jumped right into politics. He answered a Republican Party call in the newspaper. They were looking for someone to run against the five-term Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhis. John Ehrlichman once said of Richard Nixon, “He is like a race horse specially trained to run a particular race and no good for pulling wagons. He’s for running the race to be president, and that’s what he lived for (Matusow 1).” That just gives you an idea about Nixon’s attitude. He would do whatever it took in order to win. The style of Nixon’s first campaign for congressman set the tone for the early part of his political career. An example would be that while running against Voorhis he accused him of being a communist. He even had campaign workers make calls to voter...
The question of why Nixon committed The Watergate Scandal, is still being asked today. The reason that questions are still being asked today is because we do still do not have a concrete answer, until today. This essay looks at The Watergate Scandal from a new perspective. An outlook that looks at the situation from a Physiological point of view. This perspective uses empathy to allow someone to put themselves in Nixon’s shoes, and understand what events in his life have contributed to the development of his behavior. After all, Nixon’s behavior and trait are what drove him to committing The Watergate
...ver actually happened. Instead of America feeling betrayed, they look to him as a hero and a great man. (chapter 2, page 13) By creating that diametric story line, Moore uses the citizen’s acceptance of Nixon to show how unethical and twisted their world is.
[3] Regardless of historical inaccuracies, it is valuable to analyze how Stone constructs Nixon’s personae, as well as the epic thesis of the “Beast” in American politics, because, through both, Stone deconstructs the American ideology of the ideal man, as well as the “American dream” of success.
DeGregorio, William. The Complete Book of U.S Presidents. Richard M. Nixon. New York: Wing Books, 1997. Print
The years leading up to the 1972 election were filled with new political tactics. Going into the election year, President Nixon seemed like he could never lose the second term election after successfully negotiating with Vietnam, Beijing, and Russia to improve international relations (Emery 4). Raising international toughness made Nixon seem like the most worthy person to stay president. Fred Emery analyses in his novel Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and the Fall of Richard Nixon, the president was also setting up the first summit meeting in history with Soviet Union Presidents (3). There seemed to be nothing capable of holding the seemingly responsible man back. However, this assurance came with massive consequences. The absolute certainty that Nixon would be reelected fueled the lies and abuse of power by the Nixon government (Emery 195). As the outlook of landslide winnings took over the White House, the moral reasoning, “the end justifies the means” became more prevalent. Nixon was obsessed with winning and being successful. Under his command his staff did whatever possible to ...
President Nixon wrote this letter to Cuck Colson only one year before Colson was indicted for conspiring to cover up the Watergate burglaries. Not even Colson could tell you how this all started, but in his character as a young man it was evident that he could and would do anything necessary to complete a task that he set out to accomplish. Colson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated as valedictorian of his High School class of 1949. He rejected a full scholarship from Harvard University, and attended Brown University, also on scholarship, and then George Washington University Law School, graduating from both with honors. After graduation he spent a few years in the Marine Core, but then settled down to practicing law. He soon became involved in politics, and was particularly enthralled with campaign managing, as he had dabbled in it while still in Law school. In 1969, Chuck Colson was appointed Special Counsel to President Nixon (Wikipedia 2013). During his time in the White House he became known as the “hatchet man” because he did whatever it took to accomplish what the president wanted. In 1973 he resigned just after Nixon was elected for his second term, and was planning on returning to his law practice. That summer he gave his life to the Lord, and was a changed man. He was indicted the following March, and sentenced to one to three years in prison for his involvement in the Watergate Scandal. While in prison his relation...