7 Richard M. Nixon 7largely because of his anticommunist credentials, but also
because Republicans thought he could draw valuable sup-
port in the West. During the campaign he delivered a
nationally televised address, the “Checkers” speech—
named for the dog he admitted receiving as a political
gift—to rebut charges of fi nancial misconduct. He and
Eisenhower were reelected easily in 1956.
Nixon’s vice presidency was also noteworthy for his
many well-publicized trips abroad, including a 1959 visit to
the Soviet Union, highlighted by an impromptu profanity-
fi lled “kitchen debate” in Moscow with Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev.
Vice Pres. Richard M. Nixon and his wife, Pat, receiving fl owers from a young
girl during a visit to South Korea in 1953. U.S. Department of Defense