Spiro Theodore Agnew – I

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Ted Agnew, a successful Baltimore County Executive before moving to Annapolis, was one of the rising stars of the moderate wing of the Republican Party. Nixon needed to reach out to his old enemy Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York and the leading moderate. He also had to appease the Goldwater faction powerful in the South and West. Above all, he needed a faceless personality who would not outshine himself. Agnew fit these criteria and also proved to be a loyal trooper, taking the low road as the administration's attack dog, a role Nixon himself played to powerful effect during the Eisenhower years.