United States presidential line of succession 1973, at the height of Watergate, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned. With Agnew's unexpected departure, and the state of Richard Nixon's presidency, Speaker of the House Carl Albert was suddenly first in line to become acting president. The vacancy continued until Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president on December 6, 1973. Albert was also next in line from the time Ford assumed the presidency on August 9, 1974, following Nixon's resignation from office, until Ford's choice to succeed him as vice president, Nelson Rockefeller, was confirmed by Congress four months later. The vice presidency has been vacant on
Spiro Agnew Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (; November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th Vice President of the United States from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second and more recent officeholder to resign the position, after John C. Calhoun in 1832. Agnew was born in Baltimore, to an American-born mother and a Greek immigrant father. He attended Johns Hopkins University, graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law, and entered the United States Army in 1941. Agnew served as an officer during World War II, earning the Bronze Star, and was recalled for