Spiro Agnew Resigned in 1973; John C. Calhoun Resigned in 1832



Exploring the Only Two Cases of U.S. Vice Presidential Resignations.  In photo: Spiro Agnew.Over the history of the United States, only two men have ever resigned as Vice President - Spiro Agnew and John C. Calhoun.

Spiro Agnew served as Vice President under President Richard Nixon for a little over four years. Nixon/Agnew won the 1968 Presidential election, defeating Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie.

Nixon/Agnew did very well during their first terms in the White House and easily won re-election in 1972, destroying the ticket of McGovern and Shriver. Nixon and Agnew carried 49 states and won over 60% of the popular vote.

A few months later, Spiro Agnew was gone, having resigned from his post as Vice President.

Agnew was investigated by the US Attorney for the District of Maryland for taking kickbacks from contractors while he served as Baltimore County Executive and the Governor of Maryland. These kickbacks continued while Vice President Agnew was serving in the White House.

The US Attorney for the District of Maryland was considering a number of charges against Vice President Agnew, including criminal conspiracy and bribery, amongst others. In the end, Agnew pled guilty to one count of felony tax evasion and promptly resigned from office. President Nixon, still very popular at the time (Watergate came later), replaced Agnew with Gerald Ford.

John C. Calhoun served under President John Quincy Adams and President Andrew Jackson from 1825 to 1832.

Unlike Agnew, Vice President Calhoun did not resign in disgrace. Instead, Calhoun disagreed with President Andrew Jackson on a number of key issues and decided to resign his post with just a few months left in Jackson's term. Calhoun immediately threw his hat into the ring for an open Senate position and won, so he wasn't without a job for too long.

The respected Calhoun would serve as a US Senator from South Carolina for a little over 15 years, as well as serving as 16th US Secretary of State.

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Agnew and Calhoun are the two Vice Presidents that resigned before the ends of their terms in the White House.

Filed under: General Knowledge

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