Writing 125: Nixon's Famous Speeches

Nixon clenching fist during Checkers speech Nixon's Speeches

The following are short clips from some of Nixon's famous speeches.

Checkers speech
Cambodia speech
Nixon Resigns
Nixon's Farewell to the White House staff
Other Nixon speeches

The Speeches Collection: Richard M. Nixon. 1990. Videocassette. MPI Home Video. 1990.
The Checkers Speech

Movie clips can only be viewed from computers on the Wellesley College campus.

Checkers Speech (September 23, 1952)

Richard M. Nixon made many speeches during the course of his political life. In a bid to destroy rumors of corruption and win the votes of Americans at the beginning of his political career, Senator Nixon gave the Checkers Speech in 1952 (The Speeches of Richard M. Nixon). In that television broadcast, Nixon appeals to the emotions, morality, patriotism, and populist ideas of the viewing public, both through his rhetoric and the medium of television. Although many flaws in the speech are obvious to a modern viewer, this effective combination of rhetorical and television devices eventually swayed the Republican Party to keep Nixon on the ticket with his presidential running mate, Dwight Eisenhower.

Click here to read the full text of the Checkers Speech.

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Cambodia speech (April 30, 1970)

In this televised address to the nation, Nixon announces his intention to expand the war into Cambodia in order to disrupt the Viet Cong’s supply routes. This dramatic shift in military policy precipitated many antiwar protests in the U.S., including that at Kent State University in Ohio, where four young people were killed by National Guardsmen.

“Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are gunning us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?”

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
“Four Dead in Ohio”

Click here to view the famous photograph of the Kent State shootings.

Click here to watch clip of Nixon's Cambodia speech

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Nixon Resigns (August 8, 1974)

"More than two decades later, Nixon would again try to defend himself against a sea of suspicion. After Watergate exposed his part in the conspiracy and the breaking of federal election laws, Nixon decided to resign from the Presidency. As he had done in the Checkers Speech, Nixon uses emotional and patriotic appeals to gain the audience’s sympathy in the Resignation Speech (American Presidents: Life Portraits). (http://www.americanpresidents.org/, <12 Aug. 2005>). Unlike the way he persuades the audience of his innocence in the Checkers Speech, however, Nixon fails to overcome the audience’s distrust of him at the end of his political career."
-- Judy Luo ‘08

Click here to watch clip of Nixon Resigns speech

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Nixon's Farewell to the White House Staff
(August 9, 1974)

On August 9, 1974, Nixon addressed the White House staff for the
last time. Here, he appears far more spontaneous and emotionally vulnerable than in previous speeches, even the Address to the
Nation of August 8, in which he announced his impending
resignation from the Presidency.

Click here to watch clip of Farewell to the White House Staff

Click here to read the full text of Nixon's Farewell to the White House Staff

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Created By: Tiffany Mok '06 and Courtney Chin '07
Date Created: July 7, 2005
Date Updated: August 9, 2005
Maintained By: Professor Lynne Viti, Writing Program
Expires: June 30, 2006