Vice President of the United States the Twenty-fifth Amendment established a procedure for filling such a vacancy: This procedure has been implemented twice since the amendment came into force. The first instance occurred in 1973 following the October 10 resignation of Spiro Agnew, when Gerald Ford was nominated by President Richard Nixon and confirmed by Congress. The second occurred 10 months later following Ford's August 9, 1974 accession to the presidency upon Nixon's resignation, when Nelson Rockefeller was nominated by President Ford and confirmed by Congress. Had it not been for this new constitutional mechanism, the vice presidency would have remained vacant after Agnew's resignation and
Inauguration of Gerald Ford presidency was established in 1789, it was the first to take place because the incumbent had resigned from office. Ford had become Vice President on December 6, 1973, after the resignation of Spiro Agnew. He was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Thus, when he succeeded Nixon, Ford became the first (and to date only) person to have held both the office of Vice President and President without having been elected to either. In a televised Oval Office speech on August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon, who was facing impeachment proceedings