[Verginius Rufus]

Agnew was a crook...no one forced him to take bribes when he was governor. It was wrong for Felt to leak information, but if Agnew had been innocent, there would have been no dirt to leak.

The country was better off with Ford who at least was honest.

I read somewhere that part of the reason Nixon selected Agnew was that he was part of the Rockefeller wing of the party, which Nixon needed to conciliate. Agnew had also had some harsh words for the rioters in 1968, which was the other reason for Nixon to pick him, but that (or his ability to deliver speeches Safire wrote for him when he was V.P.) didn't mean he was qualified to be President.

[JasonC]

Every elected official currently in office, and every elected official who has held office for the last 30 years, has taken bribes. Might shock you I suppose, but that is the truth. Not all of them have been removed from office over it. Precious few, in fact.