On September 23, 1952 Richard Milhous Nixon sat down to address the largest television audience ever amassed by a politician (Gardener 18). This was no ordinary political speech. Nixon’s future in politics was on the line. In one speech Nixon had the daunting task of not only clearing his name of the allegation that he had received illegal campaign funds, but he also had to present himself as a viable asset to the Republican ticket. Nixon bared his heart to the American people, and in turn was applauded for his honesty and good character. Nixon’s speech was met with nearly unanimous acceptance and praise. But, audience acceptance alone is not what makes a speech unforgettable or worth writing about. Good speech analysis involves evaluating the speaker, audience and environment surrounding a speech (Cathcart 18).
Before Nixon’s speech can be analyzed there must be a clear understanding of the events leading up to his speech. After only six years in politics as the California state Governor, Richard Nixon was chosen by Dwight Eisenhower as his running-mate in the Presidential election (Voorhis 220). Being only 39-years old and having relatively no political experience it was an honor for Nixon to be chosen (Voorhis
221). The main issues being debated by the presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls were the Korean War, communism and corruption (Cooper 159). Nixon focused most heavily on addressing the issue of communism because of his contributions in exposing democratic politician Alger Hiss as a communist who had given secrets to the Soviets. The Hiss case consequently gave Nixon “national exposure as an able opponent of Communism and a defender of traditional America” (Cooper 160). Everything was going smoothly in the Nixon-Eisenhower campaign until September of 1952.
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