Spiro Agnew

Vice Presidents Who Just Missed The Presidency: Hannibal Hamlin, Garret Hobart, John Nance Garner, Henry A. Wallace, Spiro Agnew, Nelson Rockefeller

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American history records that we have had 43 Presidents of the United States.

What is often NOT recorded is how six Vice Presidents came so close to the Presidency, but circumstances prevented them from doing so.

Three situations involved the timing of the death of the President; while two involved the fortune of two attempted Presidential assassinations failing to succeed; and one involved a Vice President being forced from office before the President in office resigned in disgrace.

Imagine if any of the following Vice Presidents had become President, how it would have changed history!

Hannibal Hamlin was the first term Vice President under Abraham Lincoln from 1861-1865, and then was replaced on the electoral ticket by Andrew Johnson. Six weeks after Hamlin left the Vice Presidency, Johnson became President, upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and is seen by many as a true disaster, possibly the worst President in American history, and in any case facing an unsuccessful impeachment in office which he survived. One might imagine that Hamlin, a former Senator from Maine, would have, somehow, avoided the fate of Andrew Johnson and dealt with Southern Reconstruction in a different way that would have affected the nation long term.

Garret Hobart was Vice President in the first term of William McKInley, but died in office in November 1899, after about two years, eight and a half months in office. He had been a leader in the New Jersey state legislature, and was considered to have added to the Vice Presidency by his regular presiding of the US Senate, his being considered a Presidential adviser, and his being often called an “assistant President”, a new term at the time. Had he not died in office, he would have been on the ticket with President McKinley in 1900, and would have succeeded McKinley as President when McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. Instead, Theodore Roosevelt became President, and changed the course of American history in massive ways, and ushered in the Progressive Era!

John Nance Garner had had a long career in the US House of Representatives, and was Speaker of the House, when chosen by Franklin D. Roosevelt to be his Vice President in the 1932 Presidential Election. As President-Elect, FDR was subjected to an assassination attempt in Miami, Florida, on February 15, 1933, just 17 days before the inauguration. Fortunately, the assassin’s bullets did not hit FDR, but instead Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, and FDR was spared. Otherwise, Garner would have become President on March 4, 1933, but with his conservative and southern (Texas) heritage, it is highly doubtful that the New Deal would have occurred, denying us the most important and greatest President of the 20th century, and making one wonder how America would have dealt with the Great Depression.

During FDR’s third term as President, Henry A. Wallace, formerly Secretary of Agriculure, became his Vice President, and actively pursued the issue of civil rights, and also the issue of relations with our World War II ally, the Soviet Union. He alienated conservatives and Southerners in the Democratic Party, and when FDR decided to run for a fourth term, he replaced Wallace with Harry Truman, who became President 82 days after the fourth term began with FDR’s death, and changed the course of history. One has to wonder how Wallace would have conducted himself as President, particularly since he was highly critical of Truman’s Cold War policy toward the Soviet Union after World War II.

Spiro Agnew was Vice President for four and a half years under Richard Nixon from 1969-1973, and was loyal to Nixon, making himself controversial as he attacked liberals and the news media in Nixon’s behalf. But Agnew was forced out by personal financial corruption in the office of the Vice Presidency, as well as revelations about earlier such corruption in the office of the Maryland Governor and Baltimore County Executive in his years in public office before the Vice Presidency. Nixon, himself under attack in the Watergate scandal, did nothing to support Agnew, and Agnew resigned. Had this corruption not been revealed, Agnew would have become President upon the resignation of Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974. Instead, we had the Presidency of Gerald Ford for two years, five and a half months, after Ford had been a member of the US House of Representatives from Michigan, and Minority Leader of the House for almost nine years, with only a goal of someday being Speaker of the House.

When Gerald Ford was President, he chose Nelson Rockefeller , former Governor of New York and three time Presidential aspirant, as his appointed Vice President under the 25th Amendment. Then, Ford was subjected to TWO assassination attempts in Sacramento and San Francisco, California, seventeen days apart in September 1975. Both assassins missed the President, but had either been successful, Rockefeller would finally have achieved what he wanted the most, the Presidency of the United States.

So imagine how Hamlin, Hobart, Garner, Wallace, Agnew and Rockefeller MIGHT have changed the course of American history has they become President–instead of Andrew Johnson, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Gerald Ford!

Presidential And Vice Presidential Candidates: “Shot Gun” Marriages Most Of The Time!

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When a Presidential nominee selects his Vice Presidential running mate in any Presidential campaign, it can be regarded as a judgment of the Presidential nominee’s leadership.

It can also cause much grief, as too often, the combination of Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees does not work, whether elected or not.

Since the time of Richard Nixon as Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower, as the Vice Presidency has become a significant and powerful office, there has been much distrust, stress, and alienation between the people running for the top two offices, and if elected, has become a major problem that affects the nation.

Witness the following:

While President Eisenhower allowed Vice President Nixon to take on more authority as Eisenhower suffered health crises, the two men never were very close, and Eisenhower held off on backing Nixon publicly for a second term as Vice President in 1956.

Lyndon B. Johnson had very little role and a difficult relationship with President John F. Kennedy, and his brother, Attorney General Robert F.Kennedy.

When Nixon ran against Kennedy in 1960, his running mate, Henry Cabot Lodge, followed a very relaxed campaign strategy, taking long naps and breaks during the Fall campaign, and it was clear that the two men did not get along well.

When Lyndon Johnson chose Hubert Humphrey as his Vice President in 1964, he treated Humphrey in a very disrespectful way, similar to what had occurred to Johnson under Kennedy. Humphrey was ruined in his later Presidential candidacy by having to endorse and support the Vietnam War, a war he had grave doubts about, and was often left out of important cabinet meetings.

When Nixon became President, he looked at his Vice President, Spiro Agnew, in a less than respectful way, and just allowed Agnew to do “dirty work” of attacking liberals and the news media, and refused to keep him informed about many policies, and let him resign due to scandal, without a word of support.

When Nixon chose Gerald Ford after Agnew resigned, he saw him as a lightweight, who would insure his own survival in the Watergate scandal, an assumption that Nixon was totally wrong about!

George McGovern chose Thomas Eagleton in 1972, without any knowledge of his mental treatments and then, effectively abandoned him for Sargent Shriver, a Kennedy brother in law.

Gerald Ford got along well with Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice President, but dropped him in favor of Bob Dole when he ran in 1976, a move that probably caused his defeat.

When Ronald Reagan chose George H. W. Bush in 1980, the two men did not trust each other, and had been major rivals, and although Bush worked hard for Reagan, there was no personal chemistry between them, and the Bushes were never invited to stay at the White House under the Reagan Administration.

Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, without knowing about the illegal activities of her husband, and they did not seem very close during the campaign.

George H. W. Bush did not have much confidence, or give much authority, to his Vice President, Dan Quayle, who was a major burden during his administration, due to Quayle’s blunders and misstatements.

Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen seemed like oil and water, when they ran together in 1988.

Much the same can be said for Bob Dole and Jack Kemp in the 1996 Presidential campaign.

The combination of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman never seemed to click during the 2000 Presidential campaign, and Lieberman publicly called for giving up the fight for Florida’s electoral votes when Gore was still suing for a recount against George W. Bush.

In 2004, John Kerry and John Edwards did not get along very well, as Edwards was very much his own man in his own mind.

And sadly, the same holds true for John McCain and Sarah Palin, with her becoming a major headache, embarrassment, and burden in 2008.

The only times running mates really seemed to work well together were:

Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie in the 1968 campaign.

Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale in the Carter Presidency, with Mondale practically seen as co-President.

Bill Clinton and Al Gore in the Clinton Presidency, until the time of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, when there was a falling out between the two men, which affected the 2000 Presidential campaign.

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the second Bush Presidency, although their relationship started to deteriorate in the second term.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden, presently, in the Obama Presidency, working very well together, as united as Carter and Mondale were in the 1970s

This is all discussed as reality in our history as Mitt Romney edges closer to the Presidential nomination of his party.

And even if, somehow, Rick Santorum, or someone else ends up as the Republican nominee, who is chosen to be his Vice Presidential running mate will be crucial to the campaign, and if he wins, to the office of Vice President, and to the nation.

Osama Bin Laden’s Delusions About Joe Biden

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The Washington Post reports that Osama Bin Laden had conspired to kill President Barack Obama and General David Petraeus before having the plot cut short by his being killed by Navy Seals last May.

The concept that this was being plotted is certainly conceivable, but it is astounding that Osama Bin Laden had such delusions that he could accomplish this in real time, and also his statement that Joe Biden was “totally unprepared” to be President, so that it would set back the American government if Obama was assassinated.

It is obvious that Osama Bin Laden had no clue as to the depth of experience and knowledge that Vice President Joe Biden represents.

It is a fact that Joe Biden has had more years of experience and leadership in Congress than any Vice President who served before him!

Joe BIden was one of the longest serving US Senators with his six terms and 36 years in office, and he was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee at different points of his tenure in the Senate.

Joe Biden was involved in every major issue and controversy of his three and a half decades in the national spotlight.

What other Vice President can claim this breadth and depth of experience? Again, the answer is NONE!

Most Vice Presidents historically have been nonentities in their significance in the office and in their experiences before the Vice Presidency. Very few stand out historically before their term or terms as Vice President.

The Vice Presidency was an office of insignificance until Richard Nixon made it an important office under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s, due to Nixon’s own ambition and intelligence, and Eisenhower’s willingness to allow Nixon a major role in government affairs.

Since Nixon, we had Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Walter Mondale, George H. W. Bush, Al Gore, and Dick Cheney as major figures in the Vice Presidency, although only Rockefeller, Mondale, Bush, Gore and Cheney really added to the office and its influence. And Spiro Agnew and Dan Quayle actually subtracted from the office with their mediocre performance in the Vice Presidency.

Earlier Vice Presidents who were influential included John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, and Henry A. Wallace, with Calhoun and Wallace the only ones who never made the Presidency.

But NONE of these Vice Presidents listed above had the total combination of years of influence and significance of Biden, although certainly one would not argue the importance of Adams, Jefferson and Calhoun.

The point that is being made is that Joe Biden is perfectly qualified and prepared to take over the Presidency in an emergency, is a real asset to the nation and President Barack Obama, and should not be dismissed as a possible candidate for President in 2016, even though he would be 74 in that year.

Unlikely that Biden would run for or become President, but he has often been taken too lightly, and that is a mistake on the part of his skeptics, as well as the LATE Osama Bin Laden!

Mitt Romney’s Running Mate: Who Could End Up As Vice President Next Year?

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It may seem premature to ponder who could be Mitt Romney’s running mate for Vice President, after only two contests, the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary, but speculation is already beginning.

It is not an unimportant issue, as one must remember that a Vice President is one heartbeat away from the Presidency, and we have had nine Vice Presidents succeed to the office of President, mostly recently Gerald Ford, after Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974.

We have now had a longer period of no Vice Presidential succession than ever since the first time the Vice President (John Tyler) replaced a President who had died after one month in office in 1841 (William Henry Harrison).

We have had Vice Presidential choices that have been nightmares, such as Sarah Palin in 2008, Dan Quayle in 1988 and Spiro Agnew in 1968, with the latter two making even opponents of George H. W. Bush and Richard Nixon wish for their continued good health!

Many individuals are being speculated about who would not be good choices in one way or another.

Among these are:

Florida Senator Marco Rubio
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

All of the above are highly controversial in different ways, and would not draw moderates or independents, crucial in an election more than a nomination battle. And all, except Santorum, have been in high office too briefly, so the lack of experience would be harmful, as each has only finished one year in his or her position in government on a national level, with the exception of Christie with two years in office. Santorum lost reelection by a wider margin than just about any incumbent senator in history, when he lost his seat in 2006.

So, a better list would be the following, all adding to Romney, rather than subtracting:

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
Tennessee Senator Bob Corker
Ohio Senator Rob Portman
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
Missouri Senator Roy Blunt
South Dakota Senator John Thune
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk

All of these nine, four governors and five senators, have had experience and come across as less controversial, and all would be qualified to take over in an emergency, if that were to happen.

Of course, all would have to be vetted, but on first look, they all seem to be capable of serving as President if need be, and far better than Palin, Quayle or Agnew!

Richard Nixon And Republicans: Never The Twain Shall Meet, And Not Because Of Watergate!

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Today is the 17th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s death, and it is clear that the Republican Party would not wish to claim ownership of the 37th President.

First thought of most readers would be that, of course, the Republicans would repudiate him because of the Watergate scandal which led to his resignation in 1974.

While certainly Watergate is an embarrassment that most Republicans would wish to repudiate, it is much more the case that the party would reject Nixon now because of his leadership in domestic reforms in his time.

Imagine, Nixon, in comparison to Republicans today, would be considered a “liberal”, even though he hated liberals and did everything he could to oppose the liberal philosophy, and even had his Vice President, Spiro Agnew, go after the “Radic Libs”!

But in fact, Richard Nixon extended the Great Society of Lyndon Johnson with such legislation as:

Consumer Product Safety Commission
Environmental Protection Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Amtrak Rail System
Wage and Price Controls
Harry Blackmun on the Supreme Court
Affirmative Action
Support of the Equal Rights Amendment
Cost of Living Allowances For Social Security

And the list goes on: the fact is that Nixon could have vetoed these Democratic party initiatives, but instead promoted them and signed them into law!

So, for good reason, Richard Nixon would be repudiated by today’s right wing Republican Party, for being “too damn liberal”!

John McCain And Affirmative Action In Selection Of VP Candidate In 2008

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A new revelation has been made by one of Senator John McCain’s campaign managers, indicating that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was added to the Vice Presidential list in 2008 because McCain felt there was a need for a woman on his final list of Vice Presidential possibilities.

But McCain, by doing so, endangered the whole nation with a choice of a running mate, who while a female, was totally unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, let alone be on the list as a potential Presidential candidate in 2012!

Sarah Palin is not Hillary Clinton; she is also not Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, or former Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, or other qualified women of the GOP in the House of Representatives!

Palin has been a burden on the nation, and the only benefit of her candidacy in 2008 was to enrich her by millions of dollars as she became a celebrity, although with very thin, almost unnoticeable qualifications other than her appearance.

When one looks at the the rest of the list McCain was considering for the Vice Presidency, one can only weep!

On that list were Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Joe Lieberman, Charlie Crist, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City.

ANY and ALL of them would have been far better qualified, and might have given McCain a real shot at winning, even in the midst of the economic collapse of September and October 2008. In any case, we could all have rested easier with the thought of a President Romney, a President Pawlenty, a President Lieberman, a President Crist, or a President Bloomberg than a President Palin!

This shows how the first decision a Presidential nominee makes, who shall be his Vice President and a heartbeat away from the White House, is a crucial test as to his suitability for the White House!

And when he makes the wrong decision, as Richard Nixon did in selecting Spiro Agnew, and George HW Bush did in picking Dan Quayle, it creates nightmares and the need for prayers, as it would have had John McCain won the White House in 2008!

Affirmative Action is fine, as long as the candidate involved is QUALIFIED, which Sarah Palin was not, and is not, to be President of the United States!

Religion And The American Presidency: No Religious Test!

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The United States has come a long way in the past fifty years, electing our first Catholic President, John F. Kennedy; witnessing our first Greek Orthodox Presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis; having a second Catholic nominee for President, John Kerry; nominating three other Catholics for Vice President–Edmund Muskie, Sargent Shriver, and Geraldine Ferraro; electing the first Greek Othodox Vice President, Spiro Agnew; electing the first Catholc Vice President, Joe Biden; and nominating the first Jewish Vice Presidential nominee, Joe Lieberman.

So therefore, it is time to see evangelical Christians stop declaring their opposition to the nomination and possible election of a Mormon President!

The Republican Party has the real opportunity to nominate a possibly winning candidate in 2012, and has the blessing of two excellent, well qualified nominees, arguably the two best candidates in the field.

One, Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, was the runner up to John McCain in the 2008 Presidential nomination battle, and has proved to have great business experience, and strong leadership in his term as Governor of Massachusetts. He has already, in 2008, tried to overcome the religious issue with a speech making clear that, like John F. Kennedy stated about his religion, he would be a President who happened to be Mormon, not a Mormon President!

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who is resigning as Ambassador to China, has excellent credentials in foreign policy and had a successful time as the Governor of the Mormon state, and showed open mindedness, and is seen by many observers as an exceptional person who could be a great candidate, and his Mormon faith should not be a factor in his running for President.

It is time for evangelicals and others to stop using religion as a reason to deny someone who is talented and capable the opportunity to run for President!

Sure, both Romney and Huntsman have their shortcomings, but in so many ways, they are the best candidates available, and religion should not be a consideration in the upcoming Presidential race!

40 Years Since Kent State: Sad Anniversary Of A Divided America Which Continues Today!

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Tomorrow, May 4, marks 40 years since the tragic shooting of students at Kent State University in Ohio by the National Guard, leading to the death of four students and the wounding of nine others!

Kent State became the symbol of a divided America over the Vietnam War’s continuation, and expansion into Cambodia by the Nixon Administration. The reaction was for the President, Vice President Spiro Agnew, and Ohio Governor James Rhodes (who called for the National Guard to be sent to the college campus) to condemn the students as causing their own tragedy, and the country was as divided for the next few years on that terrible event and Vietnam as ever before or since the Civil War in the mid 19th century!

Kent State radicalized many, but also confirmed many conservatives in their own self righteousness and patriotism, backing a war that had a lack of support among a large portion of the American population!

The thought that the National Guard was out of control, and took the action to shoot down and kill college students in cold blood, and that many did not see that as a horrible event, is still enough to make one sick to his stomach forty years later!

The problem is that the hate that has developed in the midst of economic crisis now in America reminds one too much of those tumultuous times! Hate speech and heated rhetoric is now employed over domestic affairs, and leadership is demonized as then, and in many ways, the divisions in America today are reminiscent of those days!

It is the old battle of the movement for progress and change, against the forces of tradition and retrenchment! Vietnam was the controversy of that time, while now it is domestic reform after years of stagnation, corruption, and economic exploitation!

Criticism Of News Network Nothing New

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Republicans are showing hypocrisy when they criticize President Obama and his administration for their attack on Fox News Channel.

Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino under President George W. Bush attacked NBC News for criticism of her boss, and Vice President Spiro Agnew under President Richard Nixon regularly attacked the news media, specifically the three major networks, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, for their reporting on the Nixon Administration.

For Perino to say that what the Obama Administration is doing was signs of a dictatorship only proves what many believed when she was Press Secretary: that she displayed large amounts of ignorance and even stupidity much of the time. Let’s just say that she was probably the biggest embarrassment ever in the position of Press Secretary to a President!