John Connally and fellow Texan president. In May 1973, Connally joined the Republican Party. When Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned five months later because of scandal, Connally was one of Nixon's potential choices to fill the vacancy. Nixon tapped Gerald Ford, the House Minority Leader from Grand Rapids, Michigan, because he believed that the moderate Ford could be easily confirmed by both houses of Congress, as required by the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution. A Connally nomination presumably could have been blocked by liberal Democratic opposition. The weakened Nixon did not want a fight for the vice-presidential selection. Connally's party
Judy Agnew Judy Agnew Elinor Isabel "Judy" Judefind Agnew (April 23, 1921 – June 20, 2012) was the Second Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1973. She was the wife of the 39th Vice President of the United States, Spiro Agnew, who previously served as Governor of Maryland and Baltimore County Executive. Born Elinor Isabel Judefind in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents of French-German descent, Agnew was daughter of William Lee Judefind, a chemist, and his wife, the former Ruth Elinor Schafer. Her paternal grandfather was a Methodist minister. Agnew confessed in an interview with "Parade" magazine that her father had