 The press became aware of the fund in September 1952 , two months after Nixon 's selection as General Dwight D. Eisenhower 's running mate . Within a few days , the story grew until the controversy threatened Nixon 's place on the ticket . In an attempt to turn the tide of public opinion , Nixon broke off a whistle @-@ stop tour of the West Coast to fly to Los Angeles to make a television and radio broadcast to the nation ; the $ 75 @,@ 000 to buy the television time was raised by the RNC . The idea for the Checkers reference came from Franklin Roosevelt 's Fala speech — given eight years to the day before Nixon 's address — in which Roosevelt mocked Republican claims that he had sent a destroyer to fetch his dog , Fala , when the dog was supposedly left behind in the Aleutian Islands . 
