Word: agnew
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That, however, did not inhibit the combative Victor Gold, Agnew's former press secretary and still a close associate. Gold put the blame for the stories squarely on Alexander Haig and Melvin Laird, Nixon's two top aides, who he said were following a familiar White House pattern in trying to undermine the Vice President as Nixon's most likely successor in 1976. Said Gold: "First we had Haldeman and Ehrlichman; now we have Haig and Laird; next we'll have Sonny and Cher...
When both Haig and Laird denied that they were the sources for the Agnew-is-going stories, newsmen turned to Deputy White House Press Secretary Gerald Warren to find out the thinking of the President. What Warren did not say turned out to be as valuable a clue as what he did say. As the President's diligent echo, Warren could have rescued Agnew from his humiliation by merely giving the slightest sign of support. Instead, Warren had "no comment" to questions about Broder's story in the Post, with one notable exception...
...that the President stood by his Sept. 5th press-conference statement about Agnew, but that made things even worse for Agnew; Nixon had then been extraordinarily careful to say only that he had confidence in the "Vice President's integrity during the period that he has served as Vice President and during which I have known him." Omitted was any endorsement of the pre-1968 Agnew, when he was Governor of Maryland or Baltimore county executive...
...Agnew's allies could perhaps be forgiven if, as John Ehrlichman described the White House treatment of Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray, they suspected the Vice President was being allowed to twist slowly, slowly in the wind...
...should the White House want Agnew to resign? The more suspicious of Agnew's beleaguered band of staffers cited four possible reasons...