the issue of romney s disclosure returned to the headlines just this weekend. after the republican presidential candidate as promised released his 2011 tax return and no more. and democrats once again echoed the charge that richard nixon first made 60 years ago nondisclosure only means one thing he s got something to hide. michael isikoff, nbc news, washington. eight years after the checkers speech, nixon faced off with jfk in the first-ever televised debate. that is then, an absolute game-changer in presidential politics. coming up in the next hour, we ll talk about how we could see another game-changer in a few weeks. first, we ll go rocky mountain high. we re going to find out why the centennial state is so important in this year s presidential election. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%,
have change the way we view modern politics and modern politicians, it was on this day in 1952 that then-senator richard nixon gave what became known as the checkers speech. the move turned out to be a stroke of political genius. nixon, used to the new medium of television as a way to address allegations. he used it to address allegations that he was using a slush fund for personal gain and saved his newly minted role for dwight eisenhower for vice presidential case. 60 years ago richard nixon gave one of the most famous speeches in american political history. and in so doing invented new rules for financial disclosure for political candidates that are being debated anew in this year s presidential campaign. seeking the place on the gop ticket, as dwight eisenhower s running mate, richard nixon gave his famous checkers speech 60
about it, we re going to keep it. well, sunday marks the 60th anniversary of the checkers speech, the defining moment in political transparency and survival. it comes as mitt romney released what will be two years of tax returns but not the 12 his father put out os the ones nixon say we all should put out. michael isikoff is reporting on this anniversary and jeff riff franks the author of ike and dick, portrait of a strange political marriage. i remember when nixon was making the demand all politicians should release the facts about tax returns and everything else. nixon was saying to ike you phony s.o.b., you wouldn t put out the information, i m out on the cooker having to explain all my finances. he had no idea what eisenhower did not want to reveal, which was that eisenhower had a great tax deal himself.
we re back. it was in september of 1952 that richard nixon gave the most important speech of his life, the checkers speech. nixon was eisenhower s running mate as vice president facing heat for a fund that had been uncovered when he was raising money for his political expenses. so he took to the airways to disclose every dollar he owed, for the banks for his mortgages, the loan off his life insurance, the money he borrowed from his parents even, but it was a gift that he refused to return that made him so famous. he said an unexpected package was sent to the family one day. do you know what it was? it was a little cocker spaniel dog in a crate that he had sent all the way from texas. black and white, spotted, and our little girl, tricia, the 6-year-old named it checkers. and, you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog, and i just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say
after reading jeff s excellent book, we all remember about checkers, we remember it about nixon fighting for his survival but the issue was financial disclosure, about putting everything on the table, telling everything about his finances. that s what nixon was doing. that was the spirit of the checkers speech. that resonates right to the 2012 campaign. what was so fascinating about it is after you read it through after nixon goes through this litany and naming his oldsmobile, his mortgage, how much he owes his mothers. after that he says let s talk about the democrats. he makes a sly reference to add lie stevenson s wealth. he says it s time for them to do the same thing, release every detail about their finances and