How Dogs in Politics Got Started
Copyright 2010 Nancy L. Houser. All Rights Reserved. Richard M. Nixon was a candidate for Vice-President in 1952, running with Dwight D. Eisenhower. Like most political garbage, media frenzy was assuming he had pocketed some of his $18,000 campaign money for his personal use. To handle the situation, Nixon took the case to the American people. He spoke to the people on September 23, 1952, addressing and explaining the issue at hand. He promised them he had not used any of the political money he had available for personal use. But he did state that his daughters had received a dog, which they named "Checkers", as a gift. He said they would keep the dog, with this day referred to as the Dogs in Politics Day.