This is a great time to start anew and jumpstart our Monthly Topic! Remember, you don’t have to write an eloquent treatise – just a couple of simple sentences will do!
It’s a great time for our NEW MEMBERS to jump in and let their voices be heard!
Richard Nixon resigned the presidency 51 years ago amid the Watergate scandal. His original vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned a year earlier due to an unrelated scandal. Gerald Ford then became vice president. Generally, Ford had more bipartisan appeal on Capitol Hill than Agnew did. Had Agnew not resigned, might the House of Representatives have been less likely to impeach Nixon, knowing that his conviction would result in an Agnew presidency?
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Because Agnew was Nixon’s VP, even if he wasn’t in the inner circle discussions the public still would have linked him to Nixon and considered him complicit.
It’s possible that the House would have impeached Nixon even if Agnew would have become president. Strategically the Democrats could have tied Agnew to Watergate, causing him to lose the 1976 election in any case.
I agree, Roy. The Democrats would have weakened the Republicans regardless of who succeeded Nixon in the White House as a result of Nixon’s removal or resignation from office. Also, don’t forget, it wasn’t just politics: both major parties’ senses were deeply offended by the cover-up and they truly believed they were doing the right thing.
Do you think Ford might have won the 1976 election if he hadn’t pardoned Nixon, or would he still have lost because of other problems facing America at the time, such as inflation?