Spiro Theodore Agnew

Quick Summary

Spiro Agnew was the only U.S. Vice President to resign due to criminal charges. As Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and even as Vice President, Agnew systematically accepted cash bribes and kickbacks from engineering firms and contractors seeking government contracts. When the scheme was exposed by a federal investigation in 1973, Agnew pleaded no contest (nolo contendere) to a single count of federal tax evasion on October 10, 1973, resigned the vice presidency, and was sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation and a $10,000 fine.

Timeline of Events

The Details

Agnew's corruption was startlingly simple and persistent. The scheme worked through a network of Maryland engineering and consulting firms that depended on government contracts. Firms seeking public works contracts, roads, water systems, sewage treatment plants, would make cash payments to Agnew, typically calculated as a percentage of the contract value (around 5%). The payments were made in cash, often in plain white envelopes, delivered personally.

Key participants in the scheme included Lester Matz, a partner in the engineering firm Matz, Childs and Associates; Jerome Wolff, chairman of the Maryland State Roads Commission and Agnew's closest aide; Allen Green, a real estate developer and political ally; and I.H. "Bud" Hammerman II, a Baltimore real estate developer who served as the "bag man," collecting and delivering payments.

What made the case extraordinary was that the payments continued after Agnew became Vice President. Matz and Wolff testified that they made cash payments to Agnew in his White House office, in the Executive Office Building, and in hotel rooms. Agnew was accepting envelopes of cash from Maryland contractors while serving as Vice President of the United States, one heartbeat from the presidency.

The investigation was led by U.S. Attorney George Beall (a Republican) and three young assistant prosecutors: Barnet Skolnik, Ronald Liebman, and Tim Baker. They initially were investigating corruption in Baltimore County government when cooperating witnesses began revealing payments to the sitting Vice President. Attorney General Elliot Richardson negotiated the plea deal, which was controversial: many prosecutors felt Agnew should have gone to prison.

Attorney General Richardson told the court that the plea bargain was in the national interest because the country was simultaneously dealing with the Watergate crisis involving President Nixon. Having both the President and Vice President under criminal investigation simultaneously was seen as a threat to constitutional governance.

What Happened

Agnew pleaded no contest to a single count of federal tax evasion on October 10, 1973. He resigned the vice presidency the same day, becoming only the second vice president in history to resign (after John C. Calhoun in 1832, who resigned to become a senator). He was sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation and fined $10,000.

In January 1974, the Maryland Court of Appeals disbarred Agnew. In 1981, a Maryland civil court ordered him to repay $268,482, the bribery payments received while governor, plus interest, to the State of Maryland. Agnew paid the judgment but never expressed remorse. In his 1980 memoir Go Quietly... or Else, he maintained he was innocent and claimed he was forced out by a political conspiracy.

Gerald Ford was nominated and confirmed as Vice President under the 25th Amendment, and ascended to the presidency when Nixon resigned in August 1974. Agnew remained a polarizing figure, largely shunned by the Republican establishment. He died on September 17, 1996, at age 77.

Financial Impact

The total amount Agnew received in bribes across his career as County Executive, Governor, and Vice President is estimated at several hundred thousand dollars. The civil judgment of $268,482 covered only the governor's office period. Additional payments during his time as County Executive and Vice President were documented in the prosecution's evidence but not included in the civil case.

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