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
Arthur Sohmer the primary. Later that year he managed Spiro Agnew's successful campaign for Baltimore County Executive. Agnew was the first Republican to win that office, a feat not repeated until 1990. Sohmer was appointed by Agnew to the Baltimore County Tax Appeals Court in 1963 and became its chief judge in 1964. Sohmer then managed Agnew's successful campaign for Governor of Maryland in 1966. Sohmer then managed appointments in the Maryland governor's office. After Agnew was elected vice president in 1968 on a ticket with Richard M. Nixon, Sohmer became Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States.