Richard Nixon convicted on charges of bribery, tax evasion and money laundering during his tenure as governor of Maryland. Believing his first choice, John Connally, would not be confirmed by Congress, Nixon chose Gerald Ford, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to replace Agnew. One researcher suggests Nixon effectively disengaged from his own administration after Ford was sworn in as Vice President on December 6, 1973. On November 17, 1973, during a televised question-and-answer session with the press, Nixon said, "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything
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