#NeverElected November 3

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Today for the 30-Day Election Trivia Coach4aday Challenge the post is about a man who was NEVER ELECTED. He became President and Vice President but didn’t have to campaign he was appointed.

For people under the age of 50 they may not realize what happened in the political history from October 10, 1973, to August 8, 1974. Yet, both of those two dates would change the life and legacy of one US Politician.

Spiro Agnew Resigns

Spiro Agnew was the country’s 39th Vice President. He was forced to resign from that position on October 10, 1973, after being charged with the following:

Extortion, bribery and conspiracy and pleading no contest to income-tax evasion in 1973. 

Agnew resigned under a plea deal that allowed him to avoid prison time. Agnew’s resignation was only the second by a vice president. (The first took place in 1832, when Vice President John C. Calhoun resigned the office to take a U.S. Senate seat.)

In a formal statement to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Agnew stated: “I hereby resign the office of Vice President of the United States, effective immediately.” A judge sentenced Agnew to three years of probation and fined him $10,000.

When he resigned that triggered the first time in US History that the 25th Amendment was put in place. The specific provision President Richard M Nixon had to use was as follows

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Nixon after debating between Nelson Rockefeller, Ronald Reagan, John Connally and Gerald Ford finally selected Ford.

Richard Nixon Resigns

On August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon told the country he was stepping down the next day. Watergate brought him down. On August 9, 1974, Gerald Ford took the oath of office and became President. In less than 10 months he had gone from a congressman to US Vice President to President.

Gerald Ford has the distinction of being the only person to do that and was NEVER ELECTED.