United States vice presidential selection, 1973 Gerald Ford of Michigan, who was popular among the members of Congress and who was good friends with Nixon. Ford won the approval of both houses by huge margins, and was sworn in as the 40th Vice President of the United States on December 6, 1973. In 1974, Ford ascended to the presidency after the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of President Nixon. United States vice presidential selection, 1973 In 1973, Republican Vice President Spiro Agnew was forced to resign following a controversy over his personal taxes. Under the terms of the 25th Amendment, a vice presidential vacancy is
Vice President of the United States Senate must meet to elect a vice president using a contingent election procedure in which senators, casting votes individually, choose between the two candidates who received the most electoral votes for vice president. For a candidate to win, he or she must receive votes from an absolute majority of senators (currently 51 of 100). There has been only one vice presidential contingent election since the Twelfth Amendment was ratified. It occurred on February 8, 1837, after no candidate received a majority of the electoral votes cast for vice president in the 1836 election. By a 33–17 vote, Richard M. Johnson