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
Richard Nixon 1968 presidential campaign to further gain favor within the African American community. In mid-September, Nixon's running mate Spiro Agnew went on the offensive against Humphrey; he referred to the Vice President as being "soft on Communism," along with softness on inflation, and "law and order," comparing him to former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. At this time, Nixon sent his adviser, former Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania, on a fact finding trip to Europe to gather intelligence on Western alliance and Soviet issues. In response to Humphrey's calls for a face to face debate, Nixon remarked: "Before we can have a debate between