Senator Richard M. Nixon: Honest Everyday American, or Lieing, Manipulating Politician?

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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...

... middle of paper ...

...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.

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