Richard Nixon Rhetorical Precis

In Richard Nixon’s 1952 “Checkers” speech, Nixon attempts to defend himself against critics who claim that he used $18,000 of contribution from his supporters and for his own profit. Nixon used his speech to reach his goal of persuading the American public to see his side of the situation. The speech is effective because of the use of the rhetorical techniques logos, pathos, and ethos that Nixon uses to effectively sway over his audience. However, because of the fallacies and possible bias in Nixon’s speech the validity is put into question. Throughout the speech the evidence Nixon uses to support his speech mostly comes from a logical perspective. He heavily employs the use of logos on his audience, but often contradicts what he has previously said and often provides no details to confirm the validity of his argument. An example of one such contradiction is when Nixon brings up his finances and how much he owes. Nixon says, “We have a house in Whittier, California which cost $13,000 and on which we owe $3,000.” The problem with this statement is that later on in his speech he

One of the major ways Nixon connects to his audience to build up his credibility his by appearing broadcasting his speech live on television. Back in the 1950s the television was relatively new to the American population and Nixon saw his opportunity to use this to connect to his audience through their televisions. He used the broadcast to his advantage by baring out all the information he could about his situation and then turned the attention from him to his opponents by calling them out and saying that if they have nothing to hide then they will do as he is and go before the American public and do as he has. By doing this Nixon has built up a strong relationship with the audience by putting his name and credibility on the line and doing this