The presidency of Richard Nixon began at noon EST on January 20, 1969, when Richard Nixon was inaugurated as 37th President of the United States, and ended on August 9, 1974, when he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office, the only U.S. president ever to do so. He was succeeded by Gerald Ford, whom he had appointed Vice President after Spiro Agnew was forced to resign. Nixon took office after the 1968 presidential election, in which he defeated incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Although Nixon had built his reputation as a. Richard Nixon had served as vice president from 1953 to 1961, and had been defeated in the 1960 presidential election by John F. Kennedy. One year prior to the 1968 Republican National Convention the early favorite for the party's presidential nomination was Michigan governor George Romney, but Romney's campaign foundered on the issue of the Vietnam War. Nixon established himself as the clear front-runner after a series of early primary victories.