Spiro Agnew served as the 39th vice president of the United States under President Richard Nixon from 1969 until his abrupt resignation in October 1973. Known during his tenure as a fierce rhetorical conservative and the public voice of Nixon's "silent majority", Agnew's political career collapsed under the weight of a criminal corruption investigation. He remains the second vice president in American history to resign, and the only one to step down due to criminal charges rather than policy disputes.
Understanding Agnew requires looking beyond the broad strokes of the Nixon administration. His ascent from local Maryland politics to the national stage, his role as a polarizing political lightning rod, and his eventual downfall involving long-running kickback schemes reshaped the office of the vice presidency and foreshadowed the constitutional crises of the mid-1970s.
Rise Through Maryland Politics
Born in Baltimore in 1918 to a Greek immigrant father and an American mother, Agnew attended Johns Hopkins University and served as an Army officer during World War II, earning a Bronze Star. After returning home, he earned his law degree from the University of Baltimore in 1947 and practiced law while entering local politics.
Agnew's early political identity surprised later observers. In 1962, he won election as the executive of Baltimore County, where he championed a public accommodations law that banned racial discrimination in restaurants and public spaces—a progressive stance for the era. In 1966, running as a moderate Republican, he captured the governorship of Maryland by defeating his Democratic opponent amid party division.
As governor, Agnew pushed for tax reform, clean water regulations, and the repeal of anti-miscegenation laws. However, his political tone shifted sharply in April 1968 following the riots in Baltimore after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Frustrated by militant protest tactics, Agnew publicly rebuked moderate Black civil rights leaders for failing to control extremists. This hardline rhetoric caught the attention of Richard Nixon, who was seeking a running mate who could appeal to disaffected, conservative voters.
The 1968 Election and the Vice Presidency
At the 1968 Republican National Convention, Nixon selected Agnew as his vice presidential nominee, surprising many political insiders who viewed Agnew as a relatively obscure regional figure. The Nixon-Agnew ticket narrowly defeated the Democratic ticket led by Hubert Humphrey.
Once in office, Agnew carved out a distinct role as the administration's primary attack dog. Nixon deployed him to rally the "silent majority" against anti-war demonstrators, countercultural movements, and mainstream news media. In famous speeches written largely by speechwriters like Pat Buchanan and William Safire, Agnew famously derided war protesters as an "effete corps of impudent snobs" and criticized network television coverage for possessing an entrenched liberal bias.
This combative posture made Agnew a hero to conservative base voters and a formidable fundraiser, while drawing intense condemnation from the political left. When Nixon won re-election in a landslide in 1972, Agnew seemed well-positioned as a leading contender for the 1976 Republican presidential nomination.
The Kickback Investigation and Resignation
Behind the public veneer of law-and-order politics, a federal corruption investigation was quietly unfolding in Maryland. United States Attorney George Beall began probing allegations of bribery, extortion, and tax evasion involving engineering and construction contracts in Baltimore County and the state of Maryland.
Investigators discovered that Agnew had accepted cash kickbacks from contractors dating back to his time as Baltimore County executive and continuing through his tenure as governor. Shockingly, these illicit payments—often handed over in envelopes containing thousands of dollars—continued even while Agnew served as vice president, with payoffs occasionally delivered directly inside his White House office.
By the summer of 1973, news of the grand jury investigation leaked to the public. Agnew initially fought back aggressively, accusing the Justice Department of orchestrating a malicious smear campaign and attempting to subpoena journalists. However, as prosecutors amassed overwhelming financial records and testimony from his former associates, Agnew entered into plea negotiations.
On October 10, 1973, Agnew resigned from office. In a federal courtroom in Baltimore, he pleaded nolo contendere (no contest) to a single felony charge of federal income tax evasion for failing to report $29,500 in kickback income received in 1967. In exchange, the Justice Department dropped other corruption charges.
Judge Walter E. Hoffman sentenced Agnew to three years of unsupervised probation and a $10,000 fine, avoiding prison time. Concurrently, the Maryland Court of Appeals disbarred him. Agnew insisted that his plea amounted to a compromise to avoid a national crisis, though he maintained his innocence regarding the bribery allegations for the rest of his life.
Post-Residency and Legacy
Agnew's resignation occurred just ten months before Richard Nixon himself resigned over the Watergate scandal. Under the provisions of the 25th Amendment, President Nixon appointed House Minority Leader Gerald Ford as the new vice president, meaning the nation experienced a complete turnover of its executive leadership within a single year.
Following his exit from public life, Agnew worked as an international trade consultant, splitting his time between Maryland and California. He published a memoir and a novel defending his record and arguing that he was forced out by political enemies. He passed away from acute leukemia in September 1996 at the age of 77.
Historical assessments of Agnew remain stark. While political scientists acknowledge his administrative competence as governor of Maryland and his sharp political instincts during the turbulent 1968 campaign, his tenure is overwhelmingly defined by institutional corruption. His downfall demonstrated that high-ranking executive officials are not immune to criminal prosecution, permanently altering the legal and ethical boundaries of the American vice presidency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Spiro Agnew resign?
Agnew resigned because federal prosecutors in Maryland uncovered evidence that he accepted illegal cash kickbacks from engineering contractors in exchange for state contracts, both while serving as governor and as vice president. To avoid a prison sentence, he pleaded no contest to tax evasion.
Who replaced Spiro Agnew as vice president?
Following Agnew's resignation in October 1973, President Richard Nixon nominated Gerald Ford under the 25th Amendment. Ford was confirmed by Congress and took office in December 1973, later succeeding Nixon as president in August 1974.
Was Spiro Agnew ever sent to prison?
No. As part of a plea agreement with the Justice Department, Agnew pleaded no contest to a single tax evasion charge. He received three years of unsupervised probation and a $10,000 fine, but served no jail time.
How did Spiro Agnew affect the Nixon administration?
Agnew's corruption scandal severely weakened the Nixon administration's standing during a time when the separate Watergate investigations were already mounting. His departure left the White House without a key political defender just months before Nixon's own resignation.
