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
Carl Albert House Judiciary Committee for debate and study. Also in 1973 Albert appointed Felda Looper as the first female page in the House of Representatives. In 1973, during Albert's second term as Speaker and Nixon's second term as president, Vice President Spiro Agnew was investigated for tax evasion and money laundering for a series of bribes he took while he was Governor of Maryland. Agnew resigned as Vice President and eventually pleaded "nolo contendere" to the charges. This event put Albert next in line to assume the presidential powers and duties, should that office become vacant. Under the provisions of the