United States vice presidential selection, 1973 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 filled when the president nominates a candidate who is confirmed by both houses of Congress. Republican President Richard Nixon thus had the task of selecting a vice president who could receive the majority support of both houses of Congress. Nixon considered selecting former Texas Governor John Connally, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and California Governor Ronald Reagan. However, Nixon settled on House Minority Leader
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