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
Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1960 the ticket. Nixon also strongly considered conservative Minnesota Representative Walter Judd and moderate Kentucky Senator Thruston Morton. After a closed session with Republican Party leaders, Nixon announced his choice of Lodge. The Republican convention ratified Nixon's choice of Lodge. The Nixon-Lodge ticket lost the 1960 election to the Democratic ticket of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Ford would eventually be chosen as Vice President by President Nixon in 1973 to replace Spiro Agnew and Ford would succeed to the presidency when Nixon resigned in 1974. Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1960 This article lists those who were