October 10, 1973: Spiro T. Agnew resigns as the Vice President of the United States, after pleading no contest to a felony charge of tax evasion.
Other charges against him, dating to his time as Governor of Maryland and, even earlier, as Chief Executive of Baltimore County, were dropped. He was fined $10,000 -- about $65,200 in 2022 money -- and placed on 3 years' probation. He never spent a minute in jail.
Richard Nixon may have had the most interesting Presidency in the nation's history, for reasons both beneficial and harmful. But, to me, the most interesting thing about his time in office is that his 1st Vice President had to resign, and the reason had absolutely nothing to do with the crimes that fell under the umbrella term "Watergate." Nixon used Agnew as a tool to help get himself elected in 1968 and re-elected in 1972, and to bad-mouth the supposedly liberal media in between.
Nixon had purposely kept Agnew out of the loop on pretty much everything, from national security matters such as the Vietnam War to the machinations of Watergate. After all, in case something did go wrong, the next President of the United States needed to have plausible deniability. Still, after Nixon's re-election, it seemed likely that, at the very least, Agnew would be nominated for President by the Republican Party in 1976.
But an investigation into corruption in Maryland politics, not even considering Agnew as a subject at first, found him as one. On September 25, 1973, he made a public statement refusing to go, and even repeated it for emphasis: "I will not resign if indicted! I will not resign if indicted!"
But now, both the President and the Vice President -- both of them, themselves, lawyers -- were under criminal investigation, and for entirely unrelated things. Agnew realized his position was untenable, and gave up the office in exchange for staying out of prison.
On October 12, Nixon named Representative Gerald R. Ford of Michigan, the House Minority Leader, to be the new Vice President, under Section 2 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. It was the 1st time that any part of the Amendment, ratified in 1967, was used. Ford was confirmed by a majority vote of each house of Congress, and sworn in on December 6.
On August 9, 1974, Nixon himself would have to resign the Presidency, and Ford became the new President. He appointed Nelson Rockefeller, former Governor of New York, to be Vice President, and he was confirmed, and sworn in on December 19.
From October 10 to December 6, 1973, the man next in line for the Presidency was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Carl Albert of Oklahoma -- a Democrat. So if Nixon had to resign, or had died, in that period, it would have shifted the Presidency from the Republicans to the Democrats. Albert was again next in line from August 9 to December 19, 1974. At least, at that point, there was no concern that Ford would have to resign.
Only 2 Vice Presidents have ever resigned. The other was John C. Calhoun, who resigned in 1832, because he and President Andrew Jackson could no longer work together, and a U.S. Senate seat had opened up in his native South Carolina.
As Dick Morris, himself a Republican who had to drop out of active politics due to scandal (an entirely different kind), said, the Republicans tend to give their Presidential nomination to whoever's "turn" it is, and, "You have to be Dan Quayle or Spiro Agnew to fall out of that line of succession." (I wonder what he now thinks of Mike Pence -- and, if he thinks Pence has fallen out of the line, who's next after Donald Trump.)
Agnew was also disbarred, and couldn't go back to the private practice of law. He wrote a memoir and a very thinly disguised novel, both justifying his actions as Vice President, and became a lobbyist for Arab nations wanting to work with the American federal government. Once shady, always shady. He rarely made public appearances, but made an exception to attend Nixon's funeral in 1994.
He died in 1996, at the age of 77. He was buried in Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, in the Baltimore suburb of Timonium. Baltimore Colts legends Johnny Unitas and Art Donovan would also be buried there after their deaths, in 2002 and 2013, respectively. Regrettably, Agnew remains the highest-ranking politician from Maryland.
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October 10, 1973 was a Wednesday. Among the sporting events taking place on that day was the deciding Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. This was early in the annual term of the Supreme Court of the United States (which always begins on the 1st Monday in October, in this case October 1), and Associate Justice Potter Stewart, who grew up in Cincinnati and was a Reds fan, was being handed slips of paper with updates on the game while he heard oral arguments. One read, "Kranepool flies to right. Agnew resigns."
The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-2 at Shea Stadium, to win their 2nd Pennant in the last 5 years. Earlier in the game, Ed Kranepool had singled home 2 runs, boosting Tom Seaver to victory.
Game 4 was played in the American League Championship Series, at the Oakland Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics knocked Jim Palmer out of the box in the 2nd inning, but the Baltimore Orioles came back, thanks to home runs by Andy Etchebarren and Bobby Grich, and beat the A's 5-4. The next day, Game 5 was played in Oakland, and the A's won the Pennant, 3-0, on a 5-hit shutout by Catfish Hunter.
Three games were played in the National Basketball Association, which began its season the night before:
* The Houston Rockets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 104-88 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 105-90 at the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium, despite 42 points from the Kings' Nate "Tiny" Archibald.
* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 115-11 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
The American Basketball Association opened its season that night, with 3 games:
* The New York Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers, 118-99 at the State Fair Coliseum in Indianapolis.
* The San Diego Conquistadors beat the San Antonio Spurs, 121-106 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. This was the Spurs' 1st game under that name. From the ABA's founding in 1967 until the end of the 1972-73 season, they were the Dallas Chaparrals.
* And the Utah Stars beat the Memphis Tams, 111-109 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.
One game was played in the World Hockey Association: The Vancouver Blazers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-3 in overtime at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
And the National Hockey League opened its season with 7 games:
* The New York Rangers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames played to a 1-1 tie, at The Omni in Atlanta. This was the NHL debut of Denis Potvin, who would later be named the Isles' Captain, and lead them to 4 straight Stanley Cups. In the short term, however, the Mets' Pennant was a bigger story in New York sports.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-4 at the Boston Garden.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Buffalo Sabres, 7-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0 at The Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.
* And the California Golden Seals beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (now the Oracle Arena).
Also, actor Mario Lopez was born that day.
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