# 1974 United States vice presidential confirmation

On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon (a Republican) was forced to resign amid the Watergate scandal. Vice President Gerald Ford ascended to the presidency, leaving the office of vice president vacant. 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, which were controlled by the Democrats.
On August 20, 1974, Ford announced his nomination of former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to fill the vacancy. Ford also considered picking Tennessee Senator Howard Baker and then-U.S. Liaison Chief to China George H. W. Bush. Rockefeller was generally considered to be a liberal Republican, and Ford decided that picking Rockefeller would help his candidacy gain support in the 1976 presidential election. Rockefeller's nomination dismayed many conservatives; many conservative Democrats and Republicans opposed the nomination. This was especially true among members of the U.S. House of Representatives. However, some House opponents were liberal Democrats who looked askance at some minor improprieties disclosed during Rockefeller's confirmation hearings and whose partisanship had been hardened due to the leftover effects from the political and psychological trauma of Watergate.
The confirmation hearings for Rockefeller lasted for months, but Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States on December 19, 1974. Due to the pressure on Ford by the party hardliners, Rockefeller was ultimately passed over for the 1976 ticket, and Ford instead chose Kansas Senator Bob Dole as his running mate. Ford, however, regretted this move later.

## Confirmation votes

By a vote of 90 to 7 on December 10, 1974, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Nelson Rockefeller. Among those opposing and voting against Rockefeller's confirmation were 3 conservative Republicans: Barry Goldwater, Jesse Helms, and William L. Scott. The following week, on December 19, the House of Representatives gave its approval, 287 to 128.
| 1974 U.S. Senate Vice presidential confirmation vote: | Party | Party | Party | Party | Total votes |
| 1974 U.S. Senate Vice presidential confirmation vote: | Democratic | Republican | Conservative | Independent | Total votes |
| Yes | 52 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 90 (92.8%) |
| No | 04 | 03 | 00 | 00 | 7 (7.2%) |
| Result: Confirmed ||||||
| Roll call vote on the nomination SenatorPartyStateVote James AbourezkDSouth DakotaNay George AikenRVermontYea James AllenDAlabamaYea Howard BakerRTennesseeYea Dewey BartlettROklahomaYea Birch BayhDIndianaNay John Glenn BeallRMarylandYea Henry BellmonROklahomaNo vote 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 DominickRColoradoPresent Thomas EagletonDMissouriYea James EastlandDMississippiYea Sam ErvinDNorth CarolinaYea Paul FanninRArizonaYea Hiram FongRHawaiiYea J. William FulbrightDArkansasYea Barry GoldwaterRArizonaNay Mike GravelDAlaskaYea Robert P. GriffinRMichiganYea Edward GurneyRFloridaYea Clifford HansenRWyomingYea Philip HartDMichiganYea Vance HartkeDIndianaYea Floyd HaskellDColoradoYea Mark HatfieldROregonYea William HathawayDMaineYea Jesse HelmsRNorth CarolinaNay 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 MansfieldDMontanaNo vote Charles MathiasRMarylandYea John L. McClellanDArkansasYea James A. McClureRIdahoYea Gale McGeeDWyomingYea George McGovernDSouth DakotaYea Thomas J. McIntyreDNew HampshireYea Lee MetcalfDMontanaYea Howard MetzenbaumDOhioNay 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 Richard SchweikerRPennsylvaniaYea Hugh ScottRPennsylvaniaYea William L. ScottRVirginiaNay John SparkmanDAlabamaYea Robert StaffordRVermontYea John C. StennisDMississippiYea Ted StevensRAlaskaYea Adlai StevensonDIllinoisYea Stuart SymingtonDMissouriYea Robert A. TaftROhioYea Herman TalmadgeDGeorgiaYea Strom ThurmondRSouth CarolinaYea John TowerRTexasYea John V. TunneyDCaliforniaYea Lowell WeickerRConnecticutYea Harrison A. WilliamsDNew JerseyYea Milton YoungRNorth DakotaYea ||||||
| 1974 U.S. House Vice presidential confirmation vote: | Party | Party | Total votes |
| 1974 U.S. House Vice presidential confirmation vote: | Democratic | Republican | Total votes |
| Yes | 134 | 153 | 287 (69.2%) |
| No | 098 | 030 | 128 (30.8%) |
| Result: Confirmed ||||