Spiro Agnew

From Wikimerica, the United States encyclopedia 
 	 	 	
 	 	 	
Official Portrait, 1972 	 	 	
42nd President of the United States 	42nd President of the United States 	42nd President of the United States 	42nd President of the United States
In Office 	 	 	
August 9, 1974 - December 8, 1974 	 	 	
Vice President: None (Aug-Dec) 	 	 	
Gerald Ford (Dec) 	 	 	
Preceded by: Richard Nixon 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Gerald Ford 	 	 	
46th Vice President of the United States	46th Vice President of the United States	46th Vice President of the United States	46th Vice President of the United States
In Office 	 	 	
January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 	 	 	
President: Richard Nixon 	 	 	
Preceded by: Hubert Humphrey 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Gerald Ford 	 	 	
55th Governor of Maryland 	55th Governor of Maryland 	55th Governor of Maryland 	55th Governor of Maryland
In Office 	 	 	
January 25, 1967 – January 7, 1969 	 	 	
Preceded by: J. Millard Tawes 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Marvin Mandel 	 	 	
3rd Executive of Baltimore County 	3rd Executive of Baltimore County 	3rd Executive of Baltimore County 	3rd Executive of Baltimore County
In Office 	 	 	
December 6, 1962 – December 8, 1966 	 	 	
Preceded by: Christian H. Kahl 	 	 	
Succeeded by: Dale Anderson 	 	 	
Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details 	Personal details
Full Name: Spiro Theodore Agnew 	 	 	
Born: November 9, 1918 	 	 	
Died: September 17, 1996 (aged 77) 	 	 	
Signature 	 	 	
Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 42nd President of the United States from August to December 1974 following the resignation of Richard Nixon. He also served as the 46th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Nixon's resignation in 1974. Agnew became the first President to resign from office already having taken such office from the resignation of a prior President. His brief tenure as President is marked as one of the worst in history.
Agnew was born in Baltimore to a Greek immigrant father and an American mother. He attended Johns Hopkins University and graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He was a campaign aide for U.S. Representative James Devereux in the 1950s, and was appointed to the Baltimore County Board of Zoning Appeals in 1957. In 1962, he was elected Baltimore county executive. In 1966, Agnew was elected governor of Maryland, defeating his Democratic opponent George P. Mahoney and independent candidate Hyman A. Pressman.
At the 1968 Republican National Convention, Richard Nixon asked Agnew to place his name in nomination, and named him as running mate. Agnew's centrist reputation interested Nixon; the law and order stance he had taken in the wake of civil unrest that year appealed to aides such as Pat Buchanan. Agnew made a number of gaffes during the campaign, but his rhetoric pleased many Republicans, and he may have made the difference in several key states. Nixon and Agnew defeated the Democratic ticket of incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey and his running mate, Senator Edmund Muskie, and American Independent Party candidates George Wallace and Curtis LeMay. As vice president, Agnew was often called upon to attack the administration's enemies. In the years of his vice presidency, Agnew moved to the right, appealing to conservatives who were suspicious of moderate stances taken by Nixon. In the presidential election of 1972, Nixon and Agnew were re-elected for a second term, defeating Senator George McGovern and his running mate Sargent Shriver in one of the largest landslides in American history.
In 1973, Agnew was investigated by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, bribery, extortion, and tax fraud. Agnew took kickbacks from contractors during his time as Baltimore county executive and governor of Maryland. The payments had continued into his time as vice president, but had nothing to do with the Watergate scandal, in which he was not implicated. After months of maintaining his innocence, Agnew pleaded no contest to a single felony charge of tax evasion and promised to resign from office. Agnew drew out his deal long enough for Nixon himself to have to resign. Agnew, not wanting to go down in obscurity threatened suicide to be able to remain Vice President long enough to assume the Presidency. Agnew only managed to hold onto the job long enough to get his successor, Gerald Ford, confirmed to the Vice Presidency in December 1974 at which point Agnew bitterly resigned as President. Agnew spent the remainder of his life quietly, rarely making public appearances. He wrote a novel and a memoir, both of which defended his actions. Agnew died at home in 1996 at age 77 of undiagnosed acute leukemia.
Category:U.S. President
Category:U.S. Vice President
Category:U.S. Governor