Richard Nixon's Speech Rhetorical Analysis

In this essay I will be analyzing Richard Nixon’s use of ethos, pathos and logos in his Checkers Speech part 2. Nixon’s goal in this speech is a campaign for former President Dwight Eisenhower. By establishing credibility, getting people to become emotionally involved with election and stating clear facts Nixon helps aid Eisenhower into the White House. Using ethos, pathos and logos, Nixon is able to successfully persuade the public through credibility, emotion, and logic to ultimately get Eisenhower into the position to be president. Ethos is a mode of persuasion that appeals to a person through the author or presenters credibility. Richard Nixon opens up this speech by ending the part of his speech where he is telling the country all of …show more content…
Although that those are facts and facts are logos appeals, it is categorized as a pathos appeal since he said it in a way to provoke laughter. The statistics that Nixon provided also are in the category of logos, which is self-explanatory. He later goes on to say how that Eisenhower’s competition is Stevenson, and that is Stevenson is connected to Truman, then they obviously both have the same ties. He goes on to say that if Truman has been ineffectively fighting communism then that is the same thing that Stevenson will do. After that he talks about big business. This is where the beginning of his video ties in with the conclusion. He mentioned his estates and objects for a reason. He wanted to show that since he lives a modest life, he must have no connection to big corporations. With that being stated if follows up by connecting is independence to Eisenhower. He says that Eisenhower is neither connected nor controlled by big city bosses. These are all logos appeals because they are connected to fact. It is fact that the deaths during the Truman era were due to the spread of communism. So when Nixon connects those deaths to Stevenson through Truman, they are somewhat supported by facts, which is considered a logos appeal. Nixon’s assets are a fact as well. He connects his modest living to Eisenhower’s innocence. Since they have a connection and Nixon’s assets are fact. The statement that, Eisenhower is not connected to