Lou Carrol

Louis Leon Carrol (March 28, 1923 – April 3, 2006) was an American businessman who is best known for giving then-U.S. Senator Richard Nixon a puppy in 1952 that was used as the subject of the Checkers speech, which kept Nixon on the Republican ticket as the vice presidential candidate in that year's presidential election.

Carrol was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. He served in the European Theater of Operations during World War II and received the Bronze Star for valor and Purple Heart for injuries during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war he attended Indiana University, receiving a B.S. degree in Business.

Carrol was senior executive vice president of sales at Lawson Products Inc. in Des Plaines, Illinois at his retirement in 1996. His death was attributed to natural causes.