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
Spiro Agnew Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (; November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th Vice President of the United States from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second and more recent officeholder to resign the position, after John C. Calhoun in 1832. Agnew was born in Baltimore, to an American-born mother and a Greek immigrant father. He attended Johns Hopkins University, graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law, and entered the United States Army in 1941. Agnew served as an officer during World War II, earning the Bronze Star, and was recalled for