"But She Does Have a Respectable Republican Cloth Coat"

"The division between beleaguered commoners and a privileged elite had long been a familiar theme in American politics, normally used by Democrats to champion the cause of farmers and laborers against business-oriented Republicans. But Chambers' formulation recast the division in social and cultural terms, moving beyond pocketbook controversies to focus on 'values,' 'lifestyles' and so-called 'social issues.' It heralded an emerging new strain of grassroots conservatism, and Nixon was quick to seize the rhetorical opportunity. Like Chambers, he saw mirrored in his personal struggles the dichotomy between sophisticated privilege and humble endeavor, and drew political and psychological sustenance from the support of what he would come to call 'the silent majority.'"

Lee Huebner at The Atlantic notes the sixtieth anniversary of Richard Nixon's "Checker's Speech."