Spiro Agnew

Spiro Agnew served as the 39th Vice President of the United States under President Richard Nixon from 1969 until his unprecedented resignation in 1973. A former Governor of Maryland, he was selected as Nixon's running mate in the 1968 election and became known for his combative rhetoric against political opponents and the media. His tenure ended abruptly when he pleaded nolo contendere to a felony charge of tax evasion as part of a plea bargain, becoming only the second vice president to resign the office. After leaving public life, he worked as an international business consultant until his death in 1996.

Early life and education

Spiro Theodore Agnew was born in Baltimore to a Greek immigrant father, Theodore Agnew, and an American mother. He attended Forest Park High School before enrolling at Johns Hopkins University, where he studied chemistry. He later attended the University of Baltimore School of Law at night while working, receiving his degree in 1947. During World War II, he served as a captain in the United States Army with the 10th Armored Division, seeing combat in the Battle of the Bulge and receiving the Bronze Star Medal. After the war, he practiced law in Baltimore County and became involved in local civic organizations like the Lutherville Parent-Teacher Association.

Political career

Originally a member of the Democratic Party, Agnew switched his affiliation to the Republican Party in the 1950s. He was appointed to the Baltimore County Board of Zoning Appeals in 1957. His first electoral success came in 1962 when he was elected Baltimore County Executive, defeating his Democratic opponent. As county executive, he gained a reputation as a moderate, supporting civil rights initiatives and working with the administration of Governor J. Millard Tawes. In 1966, he ran for governor and won a surprising victory in the traditionally Democratic state, defeating George P. Mahoney. As Governor of Maryland, he signed one of the nation's first statewide open housing laws but also took a hard line during civil unrest in Baltimore following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr..

Vice presidency (1969–1973)

Selected by Richard Nixon as his vice-presidential nominee for the 1968 election, Agnew was chosen to help appeal to disaffected Southern Democrats and border states. During the campaign and his tenure, he became the administration's chief attack dog, famously assailing the press as "nattering nabobs of negativism" and criticizing anti-war protesters. He undertook numerous foreign trips, including a historic 1970 tour of Asia that included stops in South Vietnam, the Republic of China, and South Korea. Agnew was a vocal supporter of the Nixon Doctrine and the president's policies regarding the Vietnam War. He was re-elected with Nixon in a landslide victory in the 1972 election.

Resignation and legal issues

In 1973, the U.S. Attorney's office in Maryland began an investigation into allegations of extortion, bribery, and tax fraud during Agnew's time as Baltimore County Executive and governor. Facing indictment, he vehemently denied the charges in public speeches. After weeks of negotiation with the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Elliot Richardson, Agnew resigned the vice presidency on October 10, 1973. As part of a plea agreement, he pleaded nolo contendere to a single felony charge of failing to report $29,500 in income for 1967. He was fined $10,000 and sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation. His resignation, coming amid the escalating Watergate scandal, led to the first use of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, under which Gerald Ford was appointed vice president.

Later life and death

After his resignation, Agnew lived mostly out of the public eye. He wrote a novel, *The Canfield Decision*, and worked as an international business consultant, with clients in the Middle East and Europe. He published a memoir in 1980, *Go Quietly...or Else*, which was critical of the Nixon administration's role in forcing his resignation. He made few public political appearances, though he did attend the 1980 Republican National Convention. In his final years, he suffered from acute leukemia. Spiro Agnew died at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Maryland, on September 17, 1996. He was interred at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium, Maryland.

Category:1918 births Category:1996 deaths Category:Vice presidents of the United States Category:Governors of Maryland