Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Dog On Back With Paws In Air

From the heroic to the frightened.

A couple weeks back ("Mortal"), I posted what I think is the greatest and most profound speech made by a 20th-Century American President: JFK at American University. Here we have Richard Nixon, in what is probably the most loathsome (and certainly most groveling) speech ever made by a 20th-Century American national candidate. (Actually, forget the "probably.")

It is 1952 and 39-year-old first-term California Senator Richard Milhous Nixon -- known to the country mainly for his post-New Deal union-busting and championing of anti-Communist hysteria -- has strangely been nominated for Vice President by popular Republican presidential candidate General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Not long after the nomination, newspapers report that Republican campaign donors were buying influence with Nixon by providing him with a secret slush fund for his personal use. Republicans, including many within the Eisenhower campaign, pressure Ike to drop Nixon from the ticket. Using his own money, Nixon buys national TV time for a response.



He ran out of time. When Nixon realized he was cut off and could not finish, the little jerk burst into tears.

But it worked. Eisenhower backed off, Richard Nixon was elected Vice President in 1952, and again in '56. The rest is criminal and genocidal history.