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Ipse Dixit

From the Archives 13: Spiro T. Agnew Speaks Out

Season 1, Ep. 67
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In 1972, the Republican National Committee released an LP of excerpts from speeches by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew on RCA/Victor. The album was produced by Joseph Habig and William Mulligan. It featured the following subjects


Side 1:

  1. The Greatest Issue in America Today
  2. A Word to Law Abiding Americans
  3. Challenge to the Hippies
  4. "Effete Corps of Impudent Snobs"
  5. In Defense of the Courts of the Land
  6. Some Thoughts on the Democratic Party
  7. A Word to America's Detractors


Side 2:

  1. Some Examples of the Vice President's Wit
  2. The Vice President Explains Our Asian Policy
  3. In Answer to Critics of This Asian Policy
  4. The Future of the Republican Party
  5. The Responsibilities of Television
  6. Confidence in America's Future


Agnew graduated from the University of Baltimore School of law in 1947, and first ran for political office in 1956. In 1962, he was elected Baltimore County Executive, in 1966 he was elected Governor of Maryland, and in 1968, he became Richard Nixon's running mate, and was elected Vice President.


In early 1973, the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland began investigating Agnew on suspicion of conspiracy, bribery, extortion and tax fraud, beginning when he was Baltimore County Executive and Governor of Maryland. On October 10, 1973, Agnew pleaded no contest to a single felony charge of tax evasion and resigned from office. He was replaced by House Minority Leader Gerald Ford.


In 1974, Agnew was disbarred by the Maryland Court of Appeals. Unable to practice law, he founded Pathlite, Inc., a business consultancy. In 1976, he published The Canfield Decision, a novel about an American Vice President. The novel was commercially successful, but Agnew was criticized for the protagonist's explicit anti-semitism.

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