"Checkers" Speech, by Richard Nixon: List 3

In September 1952, Richard Nixon, then a young senator from California, was nominated to run for vice president. Days later, however, he was accused of accepting funds from campaign donors to use for personal expenses. Nixon chose to use the new medium of television to defend himself. In a televised speech, he admitted to receiving one gift — a cocker spaniel named Checkers. He explained that his two young daughters loved the dog and would not give it up. The speech was a tremendous success, and Nixon went on to serve two terms as vice president. Ironically, another television performance, a debate with John Kennedy in 1960, cost him the presidential election that year. Nixon was elected president in 1968, but ultimately resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

This list covers vocabulary from the paragraph beginning "One other thing..." to the end of the speech.
12 words 2 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. regardless
    in spite of everything
    It was a little cocker spaniel dog in a crate that he’d sent all the way from Texas....And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re gonna keep it.
  2. modest
    not large but sufficient in size or amount
    But I also feel that it is essential in this country of ours that a man of modest means can also run for President, because, you know — remember Abraham Lincoln — you remember what he said — “God must have loved the common people, he made so many of them.”
  3. supplement
    add to what seems insufficient
    First of all, you have read in the papers about other funds, now, Mr. Stevenson apparently had a couple. One of them in which a group of business people paid and helped to supplement the salaries of state employees.
  4. condemn
    express strong disapproval of
    I don't condemn Mr. Stevenson for what he did, but until the facts are in, there is a doubt that would be raised.
  5. admission
    an acknowledgment of the truth of something
    I would suggest that under the circumstances both Mr. Parkman and Mr. Stevenson should come before the American people as I have and make a complete financial statement as to their financial history. And if they don’t, it will be an admission that they have something to hide.
  6. casualty
    someone injured or killed in a military engagement
    And a war in Korea in which we have lost 117,000 American casualties, and I say that those in the State Department that made the mistakes which caused that war and which resulted in those losses should be kicked out of the State Department just as fast as we can get them out of there.
  7. corruption
    use of a position of trust for dishonest gain
    Take the problem of corruption. You have read about the mess in Washington.
  8. red herring
    something intended to distract attention from the main issue
    And I say that any man who called the Alger Hiss case a red herring isn’t fit to be President of the United States.
  9. bureau
    an administrative unit of government
    He has accused us that have attempted to expose the Communists, of looking for Communists in the Bureau of Fisheries and Wildlife.
  10. prosperity
    a state of growth with rising profits and full employment
    And let me just say this: We hear a lot about prosperity these days, but I say, why can’t we have prosperity built on peace, rather than prosperity built on war? Why can’t we have prosperity and an honest Government in Washington, D.C. at the same time?
  11. crusade
    a series of actions tending toward a particular end
    And Eisenhower is the man that can lead the crusade to bring us that kind of prosperity.
  12. abide by
    act in accordance with rules, commands, or wishes
    Wire and write the Republican National Committee whether you think I should stay on or whether I should get off. And whatever their decision, I will abide by it.
Created on Wed Jun 04 14:55:23 EDT 2025 (updated Wed Jun 04 16:12:12 EDT 2025)

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