Nixon

In 1950 he ran for the Senate, defeating the Democratic candidate, Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas, against whom he leveled charges not unlike those he had used to unseat Voorhis 4 years earlier. When he entered the Senate, he was regarded as one of the brightest young stars of the Republican party. His youth, his oratorical skills, and his indefatigable speechmaking at Republican fund-raising dinners around the country won him favor among local party organizers. In 1952, at the age of 39, he was nominated by the party to be the VICE-PRESIDENTIAL running mate of Dwight D. EISENHOWER. .
             Vice-Presidency .
             During the 1952 presidential campaign, Eisenhower adopted a statesmanlike pose, whereas Nixon once again employed the blistering anti-Communist language that had helped him gain national prominence. Midway in the campaign, however, he was nearly dropped from the ticket. Stories appeared in the press of an $18,000 fund that had been raised for Nixon by California businessmen. Nixon defended himself in a nationwide radio and television speech, denying that there was anything improper in his use of the money. His wife did not wear mink, he pointed out, but only "a respectable Republican cloth coat." The only gift that he had kept for himself was a cocker spaniel named Checkers. The "Checkers speech" brought an overwhelmingly favorable response from Republicans across the nation. Eisenhower kept him on the ticket, and the two were swept into office by a margin of more than 6 million votes over the Democratic ticket headed by Gov. Adlai E. STEVENSON of Illinois. .
             As vice-president, Nixon was never personally very close to Eisenhower, although he frequently represented the president at home and abroad. In 1955, when Eisenhower suffered a heart attack, Nixon filled in effectively for him until the president could resume his duties. The Eisenhower-Nixon ticket was reelected by another landslide in 1956.