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To: entropy12

:)

Spiro Agnew:

In 1973, Agnew was investigated by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland on charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery, and conspiracy. He was charged with having accepted bribes totaling more than $100,000 while holding office as Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and Vice President. On October 10 that same year, Agnew was allowed to plead no contest to a single charge that he had failed to report $29,500 of income received in 1967, with the condition that he resign the office of Vice President. Nixon later replaced Agnew by appointing House Minority Leader Gerald Ford as Vice President. The following year, when Nixon resigned from the White House due to the Watergate scandal, Ford ascended to the presidency.

Agnew was the second Vice President in United States history to resign, the other being John C. Calhoun, and the only one to do so because of criminal charges. Nearly ten years after leaving office, Agnew paid the state of Maryland nearly $270,000 as a result of a civil suit that stemmed from the bribery allegations. In describing Agnew, Garry Wills borrows the backhanded compliment once paid Coolidge by H.L. Mencken: “No man ever came to market with less seductive goods, and no man ever got a better price for what he had to offer.” [3] Agnew is widely considered by historians to be among the worst Vice Presidents in the history of the United States.[4][5][6]

Source: Wikipedia


171 posted on 08/09/2016 2:41:42 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

footnote to the Agnew item you posted.

Spiro Agnew while running for office in Maryland went by the name “Ted Agnew”, minimizing his Greek heritage. As the VP candidate for Nixon, the campaign chief had him revert to Spiro.

After the charges against Agnew were made, a MD Dem said they had been trying to nail him in the various re-election campaigns, “ He never stood still in one job so that we could nail the SOB, always moved to a higher position.”


183 posted on 08/09/2016 2:52:00 PM PDT by Covenantor (Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern. " Chesterton)
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To: trisham

I haven’t done enough research to dispute this negative view of Agnew as the worst VP in US history.

However, experience teaches me to take anything said by political ‘historians’ with a grain of salt. Accusations, resignations, even indictments and convictions, must all be taken in context of which party a politician is a member of.

Spiro Agnew was a Republican, and as such, no one should assume his negative legacy to be grounded in truth.

Remember, Republicans resign when they shouldn’t, Democrats don’t when they should.

Watching current events, as Hillary Clinton (the Democrat) escapes any consequences of her profound criminality and treachery, and as Trump (the Republican) is indicted by half a dozen of his own (supposed) supporters on this very thread for saying something he never said - kind of proves my point.


229 posted on 08/09/2016 3:28:34 PM PDT by enumerated
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