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 E. Cohen as the chief Maryland correspondent where he covered the investigation of former Vice President Spiro Agnew. In 1976, Cohen wrote a column for The Post which was published in the Metro section. In 1981, his column was nationally syndicated and it appeared on the op-ed page in The Post. He wrote a biography of Dan Rostenkowski, "Rostenkowski: The Pursuit of Power and the End of the Old Politics". He also wrote a book with Jules Witcover called "A Heartbeat Away: The Investigation and Resignation of Spiro T. Agnew." Richard E. Cohen Richard E. Cohen is a journalist and author. He