At the time of her husband coming under consideration for the vice presidential nomination , Pat Nixon was against her husband accepting the selection , as she despised campaigns and had been relieved that as a newly elected senator he would not have another one for six years . She thought she had prevailed in convincing him , until she heard the announcement of the pick from a news bulletin while at the 1952 Republican National Convention . During the Presidential campaign of 1952 , Pat Nixon 's attitude toward politics changed when her husband was accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions . Pat encouraged him to fight the charges , and he did so by delivering the famed " Checkers speech " , so-called for the family 's dog , a cocker spaniel given to them by a political supporter . This was Pat 's first national television appearance , and she , her daughters , and the dog were featured prominently . Defending himself as a man of the people , Nixon stressed his wife 's abilities as a stenographer , then said , " I should say this , that Pat does n't have a mink coat . But she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat , and I always tell her she would look good in anything . " Pat Nixon accompanied her husband abroad during his vice presidential years . She traveled to 53 nations , often bypassing luncheons and teas and instead visiting hospitals , orphanages , and even a leper colony in Panama . On a trip to Venezuela , the Nixons ' limousine was pelted with rocks and the couple was spat upon as representatives of the U.S. government
1952 Republican National Convention
1952 Republican National Convention
Pat Nixon