Editing Checkers speech (section)

=== Preparation and setting ===
[[File:AvalonTheater.JPG|thumb|The El Capitan Theatre, now known as the [[Avalon Hollywood]]]]

Through the night to the morning of September 22, Eisenhower and Nixon aides arranged the speech. The RNC worked to raise the $75,000 ({{Inflation|US|75000|1952|fmt=eq|r=-4}}) needed to buy the half-hour of television time, while the Eisenhower staff secured sixty [[NBC]] stations to telecast the speech, with radio coverage from [[CBS]] and [[Mutual Broadcasting System|Mutual]]. The Nixon staff initially advocated a half-hour that evening, Monday, September 22, to follow the immensely popular ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' show, but when Nixon indicated he could not be ready that soon, settled for 6:30&nbsp;pm Tuesday night, 9:30&nbsp;pm in the East, following the almost equally popular ''[[Texaco Star Theater]]'', starring [[Milton Berle]].{{sfn|Morris|1990|pp=808–809}} The campaign arranged to use the [[Avalon Hollywood|El Capitan Theatre]], in Hollywood, where several NBC variety shows were then broadcast, since its lighting was superior to that of [[The Burbank Studios#History|NBC Radio City West]].{{sfn|Black|2007|p=247}} Nixon told the press that he would be addressing the nation on television, but refused to take any questions about what he might say.{{sfn|Morris|1990|pp=808–809}}

On Monday morning, Nixon flew to Los Angeles, making notes for his speech aboard the plane. He jotted down the line he had said in Eugene regarding his wife's coat. He made notes concerning the family finances, upsetting Pat Nixon, who asked why people had to know their financial details. Nixon responded that people in politics live in a fishbowl. He recalled the Fala speech, in which Franklin Roosevelt had sarcastically responded to Republican claims he had sent a destroyer to fetch his dog, Fala, and remembered the dog his children had recently received:{{sfn|Morris|1990|pp=813–814}} A [[Texas]] traveling salesman named [[Lou Carrol]] had read a report that Pat Nixon said her children [[Patricia Nixon Cox|Tricia]] and [[Julie Nixon Eisenhower|Julie]] "longed" for a dog, and his own dog, an [[American Cocker Spaniel]], had just had a litter. After a [[telegram]] exchange, he crated the puppy and shipped it by rail to the Nixons, and six-year-old Tricia Nixon named the dog "Checkers".{{sfn|Fox|May 17, 2006}} Nixon decided that including the anecdote evoking FDR would needle his enemies and delight his friends.{{sfn|Morris|1990|pp=813–814}}

When the plane reached Los Angeles, Nixon secluded himself in a suite in [[Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)|The Ambassador Hotel]], letting no one except his wife, Chotiner, and attorney and adviser [[William P. Rogers]] have any hint what he was planning. He called two professors he knew at his alma mater, [[Whittier College]], seeking appropriate [[Abraham Lincoln]] quotes. They called back with two suggestions, one of which he used.{{sfn|Morris|1990|pp=814–815}} Unwilling to have his message filtered, Nixon adamantly refused to provide the media with any advance text of his speech, convinced that it would reduce the size of his audience.{{sfn|Morris|1990|p=819}} Without any hard information on what would be said during the speech, rumors flew through the media. UPI reported that Nixon would resign from the ticket well before the scheduled time for the speech. On the evening of the 22nd, the media broke the story that Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson had a similar fund, as Chotiner had predicted.{{sfn|Morris|1990|pp=814–815}} The Stevenson information had been leaked by Bob Humphreys at the RNC, but as he later ruefully noted, "Nobody paid much attention to it."{{sfn|Morris|1990|p=816}}

The morning of the 23rd, the day of the speech, brought the reports from the lawyers,{{sfn|Morris|1990|p=816}} who opined that it was legal for a senator to accept expense reimbursements,{{sfn|Hill|September 24, 1952}} and from the accountants, who stated that there was no evidence of misappropriation of money. The Fund was to be dissolved, and gifts accepted since Nixon's nomination were to be accounted for as campaign contributions.{{sfn|Morris|1990|p=816}} Despite the reports, Eisenhower had second thoughts about relying on the success of the speech. He told an aide to call Governor Dewey, who was to call Nixon and instruct him to close his speech with his resignation from the ticket. Believing they had resolved the situation at last, Eisenhower and his staff had a relaxed dinner and began to prepare for his own speech that evening, before 15,000 Republican supporters in Cleveland.{{sfn|Morris|1990|pp=817–818}}

At 4:30&nbsp;pm, Nixon, Chotiner, and Rogers were discussing where the public should be told to send their responses to the speech, when a Dewey aide telephoned for Nixon. Reluctantly, suspecting the reason for the call, Chotiner brought Nixon to the phone to speak with the New York governor. Dewey told Nixon that Eisenhower's aides were unanimous that Nixon must resign, though Dewey did not agree, and that Nixon was to so state at the end of his telecast. Nixon asked what Eisenhower wanted him to do. Dewey hedged, stating that he had not spoken with the presidential candidate himself, but that the word had come from such close aides to Eisenhower that the demand had to represent the general's view. Nixon replied that it was very late for him to change his remarks; Dewey assured him he need not do so, but simply add at the end his resignation from the ticket and his insistence that Eisenhower accept it. Dewey suggested he even announce his resignation from the Senate and his intent to run in the special election which would follow—he was sure Nixon would be returned with a huge majority, thus vindicating him. Nixon remained silent for some time, and when Dewey asked him what he would do, the senator told him that he did not know, and if Eisenhower's aides wanted to find out, they could watch just like everyone else. Before slamming down the receiver, Nixon added, "And tell them I know something about politics, too!"{{sfn|Morris|1990|pp=821–823}}

Nixon, somewhat dazed by the conversation with Dewey, dressed for the speech and reviewed his notes. Chotiner came into Nixon's room, and told him that if he was forced off the ticket, Chotiner would call a huge press conference and reveal all the maneuvering that had led to Nixon's departure; Chotiner added that the resulting furor would mean nothing to either of the two men, since they would be through with politics anyway. Nixon later stated that Chotiner's promise broke the tension and gave him a needed lift.{{sfn|Madden|October 12, 1970}} The Nixons and the campaign staff journeyed to the El Capitan, where they were met by a cheering group of [[Young Republicans]] on the sidewalk outside, including future Nixon [[White House Chief of Staff]] [[H. R. Haldeman]].{{sfn|Morris|1990|p=825}} In Cleveland, General and [[Mamie Eisenhower]], with the general's aides, prepared to watch the speech on television in the manager's office above the Cleveland [[Public Auditorium]], where the presidential candidate was to speak.{{sfn|Black|2007|p=247}}