Here is a little history on the day:
Origin of Checkers Day: In 1952, Richard M. Nixon was a candidate for Vice-President of the United States, running with Dwight D. Eisenhower. Media speculation centered around an $18,000 campaign contribution and speculation that Nixon may have used some for his personal use. In a brilliant political maneuver, Nixon took his case to the American people. On September 23, 1952, Richard Nixon gave a speech that directly addressed and explained the issue. He assured the public that he did not use any of the funds for personal use. Towards the end of the speech, he stated that his daughters had received a dog, which they named "Checkers", as a gift. He said they would keep the dog. This speech quickly became known as the "Checkers" speech, and went on to be one of the better speeches in American political history. With "Checkers" the dog included in the speech, this day was sometimes referred to as Dogs in Politics Day had envisioned finding two little old men playing checkers in front of the Eiffel Tower today, joining them in a game or at least getting them to pose with me, but the little old men I had envisioned were not there. I did see some people playing chess, but no checkers. So I decided to think of all the presidents’ dogs that I could…not a lot, if you know of more please add them!
Richard Nixon = Checkers
George Bush = Millie
Bill Clinton = Buddy
Barack Obama = Bo
If you get the Animal Planet channel there is a show called Dogs 101 and they run an episode every once in a while about all the dogs that have lived in the White House, it is pretty interesting.
Well, I am a new reader of the blog, and I must say it is quite impressive. Not only from the historical and newsworthy information- which is well researched- but also from the personal and warm tone of the entries. They convey to the reader a sense of community and depth of the human spirit. Thank you Michelle!
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time reading a blog and especially enjoyed reading yours. Hope your bonus time in Europe went well and that you have a safe trip home. We had another 2 1/2 hour flight delay coming back due to a sick passenger, so we spent a total of almost 14 hours on that plane before finally arriving in Detroit, where of course we missed our connection.
Talk to you soon. HERM
I must say that you are awesome and this is hilarious. I LOVE reading your updates. If nothing else, you'll learn a lot of interesting facts in the next year. Thank you for your sense of humor and for bringing a smile to my face and making me laugh...and thank you to Jared for putting up with you! Love you, little sis!
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