Speaker of the United States House of Representatives by the President "pro tempore" of the Senate and by the heads of federal executive departments. To date, the implementation of the Presidential Succession Act has never been necessary and no Speaker has ever acted as President. Implementation of the law almost became necessary in 1973 after the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. At the time, many believed that President Richard Nixon would resign because of the Watergate scandal, allowing Speaker Carl Albert to succeed to the Presidency. However, before he resigned, Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as Vice President in accordance with the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Nevertheless, the United States
Maryland six jurisdictions, most of which contain large, traditionally Democratic voting bloc(s): African Americans in Baltimore City and Prince George's, federal employees in Prince George's, Anne Arundel, and Montgomery, and postgraduates in Montgomery. The remainder of the state, particularly Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore, is more supportive of Republicans. One of Maryland's best known political figures is a Republican – former Governor Spiro Agnew, who served under President Richard Nixon as the U.S. Vice President from 1969 to 1973, when he resigned in the aftermath of findings that he had taken bribes while he was Governor of Maryland. Though claiming