Checkers: President of the United States and Richard Nixon

IP 611 Sample Proposal General Topic Richard Nixons Checkers Speech (1952) Why It is the first bang-up induction in America of the use and power of television to shape politics. As with Nixon himself, the speech was brilliant, bare knuckles and mawkish, completely at once. By passage over the heads of the press in directly appealling to the American people, this speech saved Nixons political career, delivered a hard (and some would say low) blow posterior on his political opponents (especially Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican nominee for the presidency, whom Nixon was running with in 1952), and seriously embarrassed his wife.Possible subtopics Richard Nixons early political career Nixons relationship with Eisenhower American political parties Presidential elections and campaigning Campaign finance American media Television and American society Public response to the speech Effects of the crisis on Richard and cast Nixon Canines Research Question What effects did the Checkers speech have on Richard Nixons career and on American presidential campaigning and politics in general?Working Thesis Statement Richard Nixons desperate, hastily organized Checkers speech not only saved his political career opus souring the relationship between himself and Dwight Eisenhowerit fundamentally altered the nature of political campaigning in the United States by its enormously successful, direct appeal to the American people through the new medium of television. (Yeah, I dont recommend your thesis statement be this long but this one reflects all the main points I would want to argue in a paper on this topic. I would probably shorten it down in the later stages of the piece of music process. ).Disciplines (I have considered six here you only need to factor three into your paper. ) Anthropology Anthropology studies culture (I think). Although this topic involves a bunch of white men, there were differences within this culture. Nixon was a self-made man, who always had to work hard (and sometimes play stinky) for everything he got. He had a curious relationship with the establishment of the Republican party. While he always manipulated them brilliantly, he never lost the belief that they looked down on him as a poor boy from rural California and that they would drop him as soon as they could.The crisis leading up to the Checkers speech was a prime example of this. Economics The main focus here would be on campaign financing and expenditures, as the Checkers speech resulted from allegations that Nixon had a secret, political slush fund. Geography This does not play a big post in this topic, except that Nixon was a rural westerner, while the party establishment was largely made up of wealthy, urban easterners. History With this discipline, you would consider the context of Richard Nixons career, especially the early years.He was one of the most influential personsfor better and for worsein participating in and shaping the history of the United States in the last mentioned half of the twentieth century. Your paper MUST include this discipline. Political Science Quite obviously, this is the most relevant discipline for this topic. The main focus here would be on fundamental changes to the nature of election campaigning. Sociology With this discipline, you would focus on the effects of the new medium of television on American society, as demonstrated by the Checkers speech.Main Points Section One This would contain the context for the topic Nixons early political career (especially his strident anticommunism and his quickly gained reputation for playing dirty in political campaigns) and the reasons why Eisenhower chose such a relatively young man to be his running mate in the 1952 presidential election. Section 2 This would examine the reasons why Nixon had to give the speech, how it was quickly organized to be delivered on live television, and an analysis of its overall content and techniques of delivery.Section Three Th is section would analyze twain the personal and the overall effects of the speech how the public reacted to it (massively in favour of Nixon), how it saved Nixons political career, while seriously embarrassing his wife, and how it forced Eisenhower to living Nixon on the ticket, while creating a permanent atmosphere of distrust between the two men on the overall side an analysis of this early demonstration of the power of television to alter the political landscape in American politics. Note I have deliberately structured the main points so that the disciplines exit be integrated within them as subsets, but not as the principal, organizing element of each one. As Ive told you before, they will look very poorly(predicate) at your work in university if you hand in an essay that is made up of analysis of distinctly separated disciplines. )