Word: agnew
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...Beach three weeks ago. The hour was horrendously late because of all those unruly, facetious vice-presidential nominations from the convention floor, but McGovern was saying to the delegates that he did not mind because Senator Thomas Francis Eagleton of Missouri was so clearly a superior alternative to Spiro Agnew. Only moments before, Eagleton had stood on the podium with his running mate, arms raised in triumph, a partly dazed but wholly rapturous grin spread across his boyish, Jack Lemmony face...
Nixon considers Agnew a valuable campaign fundraiser, and other presidential aides contend that he is far more popular with many influential Governors, mayors and rank-and-file Republicans than his critics imagine. Then, too, Nixon has difficulty in saying no on personal staff matters and in firing people, and he still smarts from Eisenhower's indecision over keeping him for a second term. There were immediate signs, however, that this time Agnew may be under presidential pressure to restrain his oratory. Nixon has told him to attack the Democrats forcefully on the issues, but to refrain from assailing personalities...
...some extent, Nixon is taking a calculated gamble with Agnew. The Vice President is widely considered a liability in attracting new young voters to the Republican Party, a major G.O.P. effort (see following story). Before the Nixon announcement, one Republican strategist explained: "Nixon wants to build the party, but with Agnew, you automatically lose the kids. How do you build a party if millions of those first-time voters go Democratic?" Moreover, there seemed no obvious necessity for retaining Agnew. George McGovern so offends most conservatives of both parties that they would likely have voted for Nixon even if Agnew...
...sticking with Agnew, Nixon passed over some men who almost surely would be more capable of leading the nation if the need should arise. They include Connally, who has shown far greater skill than Agnew in negotiating difficult issues, serving as Nixon's troubleshooter on both the international monetary scene and in the domestic wage-and price-control battles. Nixon resisted the temptation to pull another surprise by naming someone like Massachusetts Senator Ed Brooke, a black. In advance, a top Nixon aide knocked the Brooke possibility down. "It isn't because he's black or liberal...
Doubts. The Nixon endorsement of Agnew was apparently made on the narrow ground of an illusory partisan advantage or out of purely personal loyalty. The decision should have turned on whether Agnew is fully capable of taking over the presidency if the need should arise. Although Agnew tends to arouse either adoration or enmity, any detached observer has to have grave doubts about his ability to lead the nation. Agnew's ventures into foreign policy, for example, have been uninspiring. He has represented the President overseas on five major tours, but mostly in areas dominated by right-wing dictatorships...