HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I lay here early in the morning trying to gather the motivation to do SOMETHING. As an end result I am still laying here attempting to write a blog post. This is probably less productive than sleep.  As I pondered what I should write about, I came across that today is Checkers Day as well as Dog in Politics Day. Yes, I am writing a blog post about Dogs in Politics as well as checkers. Why not combine the two and tell you about a political dog named Checkers! :)

President Nixon with Checkers

Richard M. Nixon, speaking on TV about the dog given to him after he was accused of accepting improper gift

"A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two daughters would like to have a dog. And believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore, saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker spaniel in a crate that he sent all the way from Texas.... And our little girl, Tricia, the six-year-old, named it Checkers. And you know the kids love the dog and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they [the Press] have to say about it, we are going to keep it." 

This speech later became know as the "Checkers Speech," and saved Nixon's political career. It also made Checkers one of the most famous dogs in political history. The body of Checkers was exhumed three years after Nixon died, and moved to the Nixon Library grounds, near the graves of the late president and his wife.


HAPPY CHECKERS AND DOGS IN POLITICS DAY!

-Bob!