Spiro Agnew division and uncertainty, and applauding Agnew for his patriotism and dedication to the welfare of the United States. House Minority Leader Gerald Ford, who would be Agnew's successor as vice president (and Nixon's as president) recalled that he heard the news while on the House floor and his first reaction was disbelief, his second sadness. Soon after his resignation, Agnew moved to his summer home at Ocean City. To cover urgent tax and legal bills, and living expenses, he borrowed $200,000 from his friend Frank Sinatra. He had hoped he could resume a career as a lawyer, but in 1974,
Spiro Agnew unfit for the vice presidency two years later. The "Post" in particular had been hostile to Nixon since the Hiss case in the 1940s. Agnew accused the papers of sharing a narrow viewpoint alien to most Americans. Agnew alleged that the newspapers were trying to circumscribe his First Amendment right to speak of what he believed, while demanding unfettered freedom for themselves, and warned, "the day when the network commentators and even the gentlemen of "The New York Times" enjoyed a form of diplomatic immunity from comment and criticism of what they said is over." After Montgomery, Nixon sought a