Spiro Agnew in Texas. In 1976 he published a novel, "The Canfield Decision", about an American vice president's troubled relationship with his president. The book received mixed reviews, but was commercially successful, with Agnew receiving $100,000 for serialization rights alone. The book landed Agnew in controversy; his fictional counterpart, George Canfield, refers to "Jewish cabals and Zionist lobbies" and their hold over the American media, a charge which Agnew, while on a book tour, asserted was true in real life. This brought complaints from Seymour Graubard, of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, and a rebuke from President Ford, then campaigning for
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.