Nixon's "Checkers Speech"

On September 23, 1952, Senator Richard Nixon took over the radio and television for a half an hour to let the American public know that he was not guilty of the many things he had been accused of, and he still wanted to be the Vice President under President Eisenhower. The speech was called the "Checker's Speech" because in it, Nixon explains that he will not be giving back the dog his family received, and the dog's name is Checkers. The whole speech is shot in Nixon's office, which can suggest an aura of hard-work and business. He may also have been trying to gain camradrie with the American people by allowing them into one of his most sacred places. Also, there are a variety of shots used in the speech. Nixon is shot sitting at his desk, from the desk up, addressing the American public, he is shot standing in front of the desk, (in order to construct some reality and desperation) and he was shot in a close up which showed just his face. I think that these different shots were used to emphasize what he was saying at the moment. There were no titles used on the screen, and it is obvious that there was no narrator other than Nixon himself. His speech was surprisingly sucessful and actually saved his spot on the ballot for Vice President.