Nixon had two very significant speeches during his time in the spotlight in politics in the United States, they were his Checkers Speech and his Resignation Speech. The Checkers Speech, which took place in 1952 was Nixon’s sad attempt at trying to have an informal heart-to-heart with the American people. It was only an attempt because Nixon is incapable of being informal in front of the camera, he is just so awkward. In the Checkers Speech, Nixon tries to get sympathy from people by saying he is baring his soul. He plays the innocent card by “confessing” that he did accept a present from someone, a dog named Checkers who his kids loved so dearly. Nixon had 7 re-occurring themes in this speech. He claimed that he was not a quitter, he was a poor man made good, he was a family man, he was “telling the truth”, the press hates him, he was a dedicated Patriot and he used his wife as a prop. These themes and the awkwardness of his performance in front of the camera says that he is fake and all performance.
Nixon’s Resignation Speech took place in 1974. In this speech, Nixon did not try to perform for the camera or come off as informal. Instead Nixon read off a piece of paper and made minimal eye contact with the camera and audience. This shows that he was scared and ashamed to look at the American people. The one time he directly looked at the camera was when he claimed that he had never been a quitter. The fact that he made a clear point to look directly into the camera and at the audience makes it seem like he is telling the truth.
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