Nixon's "Checkers Speech" - Part 1 of 2

[mrobin4850]

What a scumbag

[asianboywonder2312]

And then Watergate. Tell the truth, my ass.

[nellgwen48]

Arlene Lorenzo: [Stunned silence] Actually it was just about the dog.

Betsy Jobs: Are you the President's dog trainer?

John Dean: I'm John Dean, Chief White House Council.

Betsy Jobs: Oh. That's too bad.

Betsy Jobs: You act like you like him. But we don't think you do.

Dick: What dog?

Betsy Jobs: You kicked Checkers, you're prejudiced and you have a potty mouth.

Dick: Pat, will ya stop snoring, goddamn it! My head is about to explode!

[797team]

so bizzarre. click my username to see more in the same vein.

[freedoomofspeech]

later Johnson scratched out -- work -- on his 1950s bill and it became law in 60s. Immigrant legal ? civil rights ? Woman's rights ?aid for India ?

Sounds like Bill Clinton !

[alexfilma16]

arooooooooooooooo

[pilipinasmabuhay100]

It was said that Pat Nixon felt humiliated as she sat there, knowing that her husband's true love was not her, but the world of politics.

[yadig2012]

lol @ this guy !

[RobGordon35]

2.35

[gl0gg]

It all comes down to being black, I swear. That's why people hate Obama. It's not because he's a "socialist..." I'm sure if someone like Lenin had ever heard a spoiled, back-woods conservative jerk from America call Obama a "socialist," he'd be sickened, and be compelled to beat that conservative... Taking the left-over money we'd normally use to pay for when congressmen vote for their own pay-raises and using it to give health care to those who can't afford it... Is that so wrong?

[TheHola94]

The reason why people judge Obama is because they are racist ignorant people. They still believe in the idealogy of white America that the white race is superior. Open your eyes...America has changed and Obama is America. He's more than just black or white just like america. So how can you discriminate against Obama? Get over yourself.

[DesertTurtle760]

@TheHola94 Or maybe they hate O(s)ama because he's the shittiest president ever. Oh yeah, and the fact that he's a fucking sand nigger from Indonesia trying to take over the free world.

[TheHola94]

@DesertTurtle760 ....Again...HE WAS BORN IN HAWAII -_- and you obviously don't know what you're talking about.. Why don't you get your facts right before you start talking trash.

[zybermen]

@TheHola94 He did live in Indonesia for a time. That's probably what the dumbass (or troll) is referring to.

@DesertTurtle760 LOL at even thinking Obama is the shittiest president ever.

Ever heard of Buchanan, Carter, and William Henry Harrison? Even if you just hate expensive welfare, you should be more angered about Lyndon Johnson or FDR than Obama.

Learn your history and stop making Republicans look bad.

[theedictofworms]

nixion was a pretty good leader only diffrence was that he was caught doing somthing most politicians do. his only mistake was he was caught. Also him using campaign money for personal use wasn't illegal for a long time and was pretty new legislation for his time. so it is reasonable that he didnt know that he was breaking the law.

[DesertTurtle760]

@ForrestShields He was born in Indonesia, raised in Kenya and went to a Muslim school. There is no argument.

[CoolGregandFred]

@DesertTurtle760 Since when is being Muslim/black bad?

[piggear]

@CoolGregandFred

If you're in the rural Southern towns, it's probably really bad

[CoolGregandFred]

@piggear Oh, you mean in the places where women are turned on by animal noises?

[NDF211Gunner]

@DesertTurtle760 You know that Barack wasn't the first person to ruin the nation right? It was already ruined over like 100 years ago, when Roosevelt took charge. I actually blame it on him, not Barack.

[DesertTurtle760]

@NDF211Gunner Still beats Mexico

[TheHola94]

@ForrestShields He was born in Hawaii -_- get it right

[DesertTurtle760]

@TheHola94 No, he was born in Indonesia. And OBama bin Laden did a hell of a job faking his own death,

[bricitybrac]

@DesertTurtle760 Barack Obama Jr was born in August of 1961. His mother was married to Barack Obama Sr. until 1964. At the time of his birth, Obama's Indonesian step dad had not yet come to Hawaii, and did not know Obama's mother.  He didn't come to the USA until 1962.

What makes you think that Obama was born in Indonesia?

[paulj0557]

Quit judging politicians by the smoothness of their delivery. That's why we're so fucked up!

[xardas611]

Obama is a 1000 times the man nixon will ever be

[DesertTurtle760]

@xardas611 Obama is a stupid fucking nigger/muslim who will be the death of this nation.

[14GloryofRome14]

Good speech, but Nixon certainly isn't the greatest orator ever.

[HittenRun1]

I found out about this speech in my class. I was wondering if anyone knew whether he was lying about anything in this speech in particular.

[Styx1992]

Nixon: I'd no sooner give you this body than I would my cocker spaniel dog, Checkers

Checkers: "Bark!"

Nixon: "SHUT UP, DAMNIT!!!"

[Chaserpeach]

So the inspiration from Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars

[RenownedRyan]

Greatest president who ever lived.

[Bastardozer]

No sitting politician speaks with candor like this today. And I think Nixon is a squalid little asshole. Times change.

[hploveshack99]

Oh hey! Its the guy from Call of Duty: Black ops' Zombie mode!

[jimgthornton]

60 million watched it, the largest TV audience for a US political speech ever. Obama is lucky if he gets half that. Nixon was fighting for his political life and he won through. Sure it's corny and fake, and less polished than Reagan, Clinton and Obama. But this was 1952. It was magic for then.

[n0gar]

This guy, the one who came before and ALL who came after him are low-down scondrels!

[sweetcurmudgeon]

What a scumbag.

[Holdeena1]

THIEF LIAR AND A HARBORER OF THE TRUTH

[tubetone74]

What a liar.

[giles422]

he stumbles on "integrity"

[LethalBanjo]

Goddamn hippies!!!!

[DevonZych]

hi mr lessentien.. Im bored

[EcoRover]

Fair leader, good politician, lousy human being. "I am not a crook?" Indeed.

[daw1721]

I dont think his wife is a real person.

[presidentbren]

He's not a very good speaker. Sounds like a robot.

[oitotheworld23]

@presidentbren I don't know how you define "good," but this speech saved his political career, so it was obviously very effective.

[ImeldaDavies]

@oitotheworld23 It was pioneering for the time and he sold it fantastically.

[clashcitywannabe]

@presidentbren are you kidding? Nixon was a freakin magnifent performer!

[presidentbren]

He's not a very good speaker.

[Cakerolled]

BEST PRESIDENT EVER!!!

FUCK THE EASTERN ESTABLISHMENT!!!!

[lubyooh15]

@Cakerolled lol :)

[Holdeena1]

@Cakerolled oh yea hey loved the Watergate scandal and the payed mercenaries that stole funds Hero of America

[SeanIacono]

Yeah everyone forgets he opened up relations with china

[presidentbren]

@SeanIacono Yeah, that did a lot of good. Now everything in America is made in China.

[Cjprace]

go dick!!!!!!!!!!kill the commies

[eggfleece]

What a cunt.

[greeniem]

@Timeofflux  fuck you!

[LordAmbitious]

I disagree with nixon starting at ~1:30

I prefer publicly funded elections, I suggest each state give each major candidate an allowance, and bar any private funding. Better yet, limit any campaigning to personal appearances, ban advertising, and have each of the major networks broadcast debates between the major candidate.

[geekorthodox9]

I am reading the Conrad Black biography of Nixon at the moment, so this is very nice supplementary material--or I might say that the bio is the supplement and this video is the real data. Thank you for posting this.

[mikeellerbeck]

Oh, the irony!

[GusF]

For all his flaws, Richard Nixon did teach the people of the United States and indeed the world a valuable lesson: you can still be a successful criminal even if you have a dishonest face.

[will1058]

What a weasel this guy was. So transparently self-serving. But this piece of flimflamery worked. God.

[greeniem]

@will1058 God hates you, don't bring him up

[stringycheeseman]

GOOH!!! oh man she scared the shit outta me!

[donbiancardi]

At 3.13 you can see what Hunter S Thompson meant when he called her Nixon's "Barbie-doll wife".

[Azraelmaximilian]

2:31

Freudian slip.

[Beefbonger]

They say Obama was the first to use the media to his full advantage... well OK...

Its clear though that Nixon was the first to use television to his full advantage...

(not a political comment, more of a historical one)

[jimmbo13]

Really...Id like to see one person who claims Obama was the first. Reagan did it better than anyone ever will.

[Thimbou]

to say Nixon used TV to his advantage is odd because at the same time Nixon Lost to kennedy because he looked worse. they say Nixon won the debate through radio but lost through the T.V and just FYI Nixon ended the war in Vietnam. Johnson lost way more people than Nixon and was a MUCH bigger warmonger and Oil Tycoon than Nixon could EVER dream to be. and to his credit Nixon ended the Vietnam war 1 year in office. unlike Obama promising to end the war we still see today. but nixon wasnt perfect.

[Thimbou]

one more note... if you compared alot of the economic policies and Nixons domestic policies were very Liberal. as a matter of fact several Historians go as far to say Nixon was more liberal with his domestic policies than Bill Clinton was. think about that. History has really changed in the political spectrum

[Beefbonger]

Nixon was the first politician to use the television media to his political advantage. This fact is undeniable.

Check your dates friend, This "checkers" speech was in 1952, a full 8 YEARS before the infamous televised debate between Nix & JFK.

That was the historical point I was making before...

[Beefbonger]

These days it is true that Obama is using the media to further his own political gains. Well who hasn't? Are we to assume the marriage between the last President and Fox News was nothing more than circumstance? This is undeniable and years worth of footage bear testament.

This speech is literally, the first use of the television by a politician to save his own ass. Some things never change. Someone had to be the first, and Richard Nixon clearly was... perhaps Obama is only perfecting it...

[cuberland17a]

Wow, you're way off with you info. Nixon was elected in 1968. He promised to end the war if elected. He did not. Still, he was reelected in 1972. We withdrew most of our soldiers from Nam in April,1973, but not all of them. Nixon was forced to resign In August, 1974. America completely left Vietnam (in defeat) in 1975 when Gerald Ford was president

Nixon always sad he .."winding down the war." People would refer to Vietnam as "Nixon's war toy". You should be more careful stating your "facts"

[cuberland17a]

Johnson, though far from perfect, was a brave man with a deep social conscience. He did the right thing regarding civil rights legislation and his war on poverty (which helped all poor people). Johnson was troubled by the war, but it spiraled out of control, aided by a millitary industrial complex bent on fighting communism, no matter the cost and even if it wasn't in the courtry's best interest.

Nixon described the accidental Napalming of a Nam village as probable liberal propoganda. SAD!

[turcorox911]

HISTORIC

[ReverendParasite]

Just remember, he was called Tricky Dick for a reason.  the guy was a fraudulent douchebag, just like every other US statesman that ever drew breath. because of that, he was a model president.

[muimrm]

Americans don't see the point. They hate nixon not because he killed a million Vietnamese and was a warmonger in general but because of a stupid scandal. Nixon isn't as bad as reagan or the bush family.

[wbi10]

Reagan? You mean the man who essentially broke communism? I bet you're a democrat who wants to pay for lazy unemployed people's health insurance. Do you believe that we should have not stabilized Iraq or try to do the same to Afghanistan? Even ObamaMessiah agreed that we did good in Iraq and are trying to do well in Afghanistan.

[kingdickthefirst]

Brilliant speech from one of the shrewdest men to ever be President.

[Belloran24]

Best and most manipulative use of Rhetoric I think I've ever seen.

[simonorman]

I totally agree with you. Exuberant bathos, but well used.

[asunsetinmyveins]

i completely agree.

[turcorox911]

PENIS

[sabaton4life1]

That makes two of us.

[Wormtail81]

This was really quite brilliant, because all of his future misdeeds aside, he basically laid out everything. The guy was completely innocent in this case, and he wanted to make the people of the nation feel like they could use their own judgment to decide what they thought. He was basically saying, "I know that you have common decency."

[WolfySnackrib666]

Is Nixon angry at me? :(

[havermeister]

He's Misstra Know It All

[Mrpastry909]

This was incredibly smart of Nixon to do. The people started watching this back then, they were thinking about Nixon's misuse of funds. At the end, they were thinking about Checkers.

[TheForceIsMyAlly]

A great politician. Not the greatest leader, though.

[aweiss]

@TheForceIsMyAlly he opened china trade, that alone makes him a great president and consequential man

[LolCaramelz]

@TheForceIsMyAlly

Great Politician and decent leader.

Just amoral.

[Kwazkneeack]

@TheForceIsMyAlly Defiantly a great politician, except for that whole watergate thing. But other than that if you turn a blind eye to Vietnam, and the fact that he was an Anti-Semitic then yeah he was alright I guess.

[theherooftime4]

@TheForceIsMyAlly this, Nixon was a great leader. But he was attacked. I like this man. I would attack him to the end of the earth. I think he would defend himself to the ends of the earth.

[ajk1195]

he was a terrible leader, but a great politician

[DGatsby]

You must not know anything about Nixon.

[alcamus2004]

oh and you are the reigning authority?

[alcamus2004]

DGatsby: if your comment was meant for me:he was a terrible president ( but good politician). He was paranoid: he kept a list known as his 'enemy list' and he went after them (in his earlier days) by labeling them as communists. Corrupt: yep, this charge sticks also, the reason he resigned was because he knew that Congress would impeach him on obstruction of justice and political racketeering (and he wasn't innocent of these charges). Murderer: he 'raised the stakes' in Vietnam

[BobSagetW310]

I am sorry, but he was a pretty good president, alcamus2004. He opened up China to America, and now they are our greatest economic ally. Nixon also created Dente with the USSR, possibly keeping the world alive a tad longer during his administration, in that hectic cold war time. Not to mention he created the EPA! please read a book or something before you open up your mouth with any more ignorant comments!

[PumaKing16]

detente, not dente. Check your spelling big guy, makes your argument weaker.

[Greg07623]

Hi, he helped a lot of good programs along, and his abilities (and Kissingers) were seminal to re-establishing our relations with China. Mostly though, he was a terribly paranoid, angry, vindictive president and the horrors of his presidency far outweigh the benefits. BTW, what is Dente. I can find a couple appearances of the word on the web but no definition.

[djackmanson]

"Detente" meant that the Soviet Union and the USA were not spitting angrily at each other but were more interested in what the Soviets called "peaceful coexistence". It's in Wikipedia under that spelling.

[alcamus2004]

the real Nixon was a terrible man, a paranoid, corrupt, mentally unbalanced man. Did I say a liar, a murderer and a crook?

[catscatscatz]

Watching too much Watchmen?

[Mrpastry909]

Yeah, but remember he got us out of Vietnam, opened us up with China, and got us on the moon.

[TheForceIsMyAlly]

Yeah, you keep thinking that.

[OwNZorZ]

watergate saved america

[Derubis420]

look up van allen radiation belt

[lhschillin101]

Nixon is awesome

[alcamus2004]

you are funny!

[MeaningfulDialog]

LOL. Thanks! 0:56 pause is great.

[CrazyconanED]

Robot Nixon 2012

[ReBorNx7]

Nixon's Head 2012..

Haha futurama xD

[cfjackson123]

lol the futurama nixon is brilliant and his body too.

[GusF]

"A man whose honesty and integrity has been questioned." I'd say he got used to that after a while.

[magicalshrimp23]

Oh, Nixon... <w<;;

[friends123sitcom]

Nixon

was

suchh

a

great

man.

:)

[Anonymous7121]

Irony~ hehehe

[rollboy35]

brilliant.. Eisenhower was reconsidering his choice of Nixon as VP before this speech, and the two men had not spoken for three days.

[hiimaaronwutsup]

"Do you think for example that when I, or any other senator makes a trip to his home state to make a purely political speech that the cost of that trip should be charged to the taxpayers?" He should have seen what Sarah Palin thinks should be charged to the taxpayers

[sk9utube]

Interesting "dog" situation.

[Salvatrucho213]

Man, California has produced the worst shit. I, as a Californian, am sorry.

Sorry for Reagan (not technically Californian) and Nixon

[davevanfunk]

How refreshing to hear Reagan dissed! I think Reagan's legacy was to screw over the middle class. He annihilated the one union that supported him in the elections -- PATCO. He created a climate that was hostile to public education. And he was one of the many that opposed business regulations. Who's paying for that now?

[enzomaidana]

and arnold too, not technically also

[allantois22]

I came here right after hearing Palin's "golly gee, all I asked for was a diet Dr. Pepper" speech. I have to say Nixon (like Cheney after him) were at least convincing liars.

[angel8aa]

i realy dont care about this but he is speacking with emotions and pepole may belive he is speaking the truth band as a speaker he dose a good job

[juancrox]

crook

[Chaconne12]

You do realize this is before anything related to Watergate happened? There was a bogus claim stating that he was using taxpayer's money for personal use right after Eisenhower announced Nixon as his VP candidate. Nixon would have had to resign from the ticket had it not been for this speech.

[leopoldmozart]

Yup. It's too bad that this has so many edits: at the beginning, Nixon explains the necessity of campaign contributions. Nixon's "slush fund" was campaign money. The important thing to understand about Nixon's ethics: politics is no holds barred as long as you aren't corrupt. You can lie and spy on opponents, but you can't SELL your votes or influence. When Nixon said in a later speech, "I have never PROFITED from my time of public service" he was expressing his heartfelt morality.

[tristianity4u]

I can't believe people ate this shit up.

[Urbunana]

that alaskan senetor?

[specialkalpha]

She's Govener.

[bdb08]

Palin needs to give a speech like this to have any hope.