Former senator and president, Richard Nixon, in his speech, “Checkers,” regales his listeners with an explanation as to how the money for his campaign is being spent. Nixon’s purpose is to tell the truth about how he uses his money, and give an anecdote on his own life. He adopts a candid tone in order to persuade his audience that he is telling the truth. Nixon uses the rhetorical appeals ethos, intelligence, and snob to sway the public to his side of the story. Nixon opens his speech by explaining what he has been accused of, and who he is. He shows his credibility by first establishing himself as “a candidate for the vice presidency” (2), which initially allows the audience to build some confidence in what he is saying. He also notes the problem he is facing during his run, as his “honesty and integrity has been questioned” (2). Nixon states these things first in order to show where he stands, as well as what he will be discussing. With this assertive tone, the audience knows well in …show more content…
He relates to his audience that he “lived rather modestly” (45). In contrast though, a few lines later we hear that Nixon has “a house in Washington, which costs $41,000… and a house in Whittier, California which costed $13,000” (48). This appeals to those with a finer taste, as not everyone owns two houses. Additionally, he later expresses that he owns a 1950 Oldsmobile, which is only a two-year old car. With this honest tone, he allows readers to know of his background and what he owns now, which further shapes the audience’s view on how he uses his money from his campaign run.
Nixon’s speech is able to highlight the problems plaguing him during his run for office, and provides the truth on the situation regarding his use of money. Through the use of several rhetorical appeals, he persuades his audience that his money was never used in an illegal