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
Judy Agnew Judy Agnew Elinor Isabel "Judy" Judefind Agnew (April 23, 1921 – June 20, 2012) was the Second Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1973. She was the wife of the 39th Vice President of the United States, Spiro Agnew, who previously served as Governor of Maryland and Baltimore County Executive. Born Elinor Isabel Judefind in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents of French-German descent, Agnew was daughter of William Lee Judefind, a chemist, and his wife, the former Ruth Elinor Schafer. Her paternal grandfather was a Methodist minister. Agnew confessed in an interview with "Parade" magazine that her father had