# 1973 United States vice presidential confirmation

* This article is part of a series aboutGerald Ford
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On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew (a Republican) was forced to resign following a controversy over his personal taxes. Under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a vice presidential vacancy is filled when the president nominates a candidate who is confirmed by both houses of Congress. President Richard Nixon (a Republican) thus had the task of selecting a vice president who could receive the majority support of both houses of Congress, which were then controlled by the Democrats.
President Nixon considered selecting former Texas Governor and Treasury Secretary John Connally, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and California Governor Ronald Reagan. However, Nixon settled on House Minority Leader Gerald Ford of Michigan, a moderate Republican who was popular among the members of Congress (in both parties) and who was good friends with Nixon. Ford won the approval of both houses by huge margins, and was sworn in as the 40th vice president of the United States on December 6, 1973.
On August 9, 1974, Ford ascended to the presidency after the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of President Nixon, becoming the only president in American history to have never been elected president or vice president.

## Confirmation votes

By a vote of 92 to 3 on November 27, 1973, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Gerald Ford. The following week, on December 6, the House of Representatives gave its approval, 387 to 35.
| 1973 U.S. Senate Vice presidential confirmation vote: | Party | Party | Party | Party | Total votes |
| 1973 U.S. Senate Vice presidential confirmation vote: | Democratic | Republican | Conservative | Independent | Total votes |
| Yes | 51 | 39 | 1 | 1 | 92 (96.8%) |
| No | 03 | 00 | 0 | 0 | 3 (3.2%) |
| Result: Confirmed ||||||
| Roll call vote on the nomination SenatorPartyStateVote James AbourezkDSouth DakotaYea George AikenRVermontYea James AllenDAlabamaYea Howard BakerRTennesseeYea Dewey BartlettROklahomaYea Birch BayhDIndianaYea John Glenn BeallRMarylandYea Henry BellmonROklahomaYea Wallace BennettRUtahYea Lloyd BentsenDTexasYea Alan BibleDNevadaYea Joe BidenDDelawareYea Bill BrockRTennesseeYea Edward BrookeRMassachusettsYea James L. BuckleyCNew YorkYea Quentin BurdickDNorth DakotaYea Harry F. ByrdIVirginiaYea Robert ByrdDWest VirginiaYea Howard CannonDNevadaYea Clifford CaseRNew JerseyYea Lawton ChilesDFloridaYea Frank ChurchDIdahoYea Dick ClarkDIowaYea Marlow CookRKentuckyYea Norris CottonRNew HampshireYea Alan CranstonDCaliforniaYea Carl CurtisRNebraskaYea Bob DoleRKansasYea Pete DomeniciRNew MexicoYea Peter DominickRColoradoYea Thomas EagletonDMissouriNay James EastlandDMississippiYea Sam ErvinDNorth CarolinaYea Paul FanninRArizonaNo vote Hiram FongRHawaiiYea J. William FulbrightDArkansasYea Barry GoldwaterRArizonaYea Mike GravelDAlaskaYea Robert P. GriffinRMichiganYea Edward GurneyRFloridaNo vote Clifford HansenRWyomingYea Philip HartDMichiganYea Vance HartkeDIndianaYea Floyd HaskellDColoradoYea Mark HatfieldROregonYea William HathawayDMaineNay Jesse HelmsRNorth CarolinaYea Fritz HollingsDSouth CarolinaYea Roman HruskaRNebraskaYea Walter Dee HuddlestonDKentuckyYea Harold HughesDIowaYea Hubert HumphreyDMinnesotaYea Daniel InouyeDHawaiiYea Henry M. JacksonDWashingtonYea Jacob JavitsRNew YorkYea J. Bennett JohnstonDLouisianaYea Ted KennedyDMassachusettsYea Russell B. LongDLouisianaYea Warren MagnusonDWashingtonYea Mike MansfieldDMontanaYea Charles MathiasRMarylandYea John L. McClellanDArkansasYea James A. McClureRIdahoNo vote Gale McGeeDWyomingYea George McGovernDSouth DakotaNo vote Thomas J. McIntyreDNew HampshireYea Lee MetcalfDMontanaYea Walter MondaleDMinnesotaYea Joseph MontoyaDNew MexicoYea Frank MossDUtahYea Edmund MuskieDMaineYea Gaylord NelsonDWisconsinNay Sam NunnDGeorgiaYea Bob PackwoodROregonYea John PastoreDRhode IslandYea James B. PearsonRKansasYea Claiborne PellDRhode IslandYea Charles H. PercyRIllinoisYea William ProxmireDWisconsinYea Jennings RandolphDWest VirginiaYea Abraham RibicoffDConnecticutYea William RothRDelawareYea William SaxbeROhioYea Richard SchweikerRPennsylvaniaYea Hugh ScottRPennsylvaniaYea William L. ScottRVirginiaYea John SparkmanDAlabamaYea Robert StaffordRVermontYea John C. StennisDMississippiYea Ted StevensRAlaskaYea Adlai StevensonDIllinoisYea Stuart SymingtonDMissouriNo vote Robert A. TaftROhioYea Herman TalmadgeDGeorgiaYea Strom ThurmondRSouth CarolinaYea John TowerRTexasYea John V. TunneyDCaliforniaYea Lowell WeickerRConnecticutYea Harrison A. WilliamsDNew JerseyYea Milton YoungRNorth DakotaYea ||||||
| 1973 U.S. House Vice presidential confirmation vote: | Party | Party | Total votes |
| 1973 U.S. House Vice presidential confirmation vote: | Democratic | Republican | Total votes |
| Yes | 199 | 188 | 387 (91.7%) |
| No | 035 | 000 | 35 (8.3%) |
| Result: Confirmed ||||