Checkers

“Now, the usual political thing to do when charges are made against you is to either ignore them or to deny them without giving details. I believe we’ve had enough of that in the United States, particularly with the present administration in Washington, D.C.”

Nixon immediately creates a contrast between himself and the current administration. By describing a typical, dishonest response, he makes his own approach appear refreshingly straightforward. At the same time, he casts his opponents as emblematic of typical political dishonesty.

“It was not a secret fund. As a matter of fact, when I was on ‘Meet the Press’—some of you may have seen it last Sunday—Peter Edson came up to me after the program, and he said, ‘Dick, what about this “fund” we hear about?’ and I said ‘Well, there’s no secret about it. Go out and see Dana smith who was the administrator of the fund.’ And I gave him [Edson] his [Smith’s] address.”

Nixon includes his conversation with Peter Edson of Meet the Press to establish credibility. He claims to not only have discussed the fund in question with him but have given him the information necessary to investigate further. He does this to show that he has nothing to hide.

“[A]nd I want to make this particularly clear—that no contributor to this fund, no contributor to any of my campaigns, has ever received any consideration that he would not have received as an ordinary constituent. I just don’t believe in that.”

Nixon disputes the claims that this fund has led to favoritism or unfair treatment. He states that he has never unfairly considered any constituent. He ends with how he simply does not believe in doing such a thing, emphasizing his sense of morality and ethics on the subject.