VP or not VP: Pawlenty would be first sitting governor tapped as veep since… Spiro Agnew

Gubernatorial experience has proven a reliable steppingstone to the presidency in recent decades, with George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter all following that path to the White House. But few sitting governors have been selected for the No. 2 spot on the ticket over the years. In fact the last top state executive to vie for the vice presidency was Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew. His brief moment in the national political spotlight might provide a cautionary tale for our VP aspirant Tim Pawlenty. 

Agnew won the governorship in 1966 running against a staunch Democrat segregationist named George Mahoney who railed against the recently enacted federal Fair Housing Act with the not-so-subtle slogan “your home is your castle.” But the first-term governor rose to national prominence by chastising black leaders following riots in Baltimore and Cambridge in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Based in part on this moment of infamy, Nixon tapped the obscure politician to shore up his credibility with southern voters.

Agnew’s main reputation while VP was as a conservative attack dog. Mouthing the words penned by renowned speechwriters Pat Buchanan and William Safire (“nattering nabobs of negativism”, “pusillanimous pussyfooters”), he heaped disdain on the press and effeminate, elitist liberals. “Without working at it very hard Agnew became very much the darling of the conservatives,” says Keith Olson, history professor emeritus at the University of Maryland and author of the 2003 book Watergate: The Presidential Scandal That Shook America.

Alas it was not to be a fairytale political ending for the son of a Greek immigrant. Agnew fell out of favor with Nixon and nearly was replaced by Democrat John Connally on the 1972 ticket. The VP survived, but his second term was cut short by a financial scandal stemming from his days as Governor of Maryland. Agnew resigned in October 1973 and pleaded nolo contendere to bribery charges. “I don’t think very highly of Agnew,” says Olson, “but I will say he gracefully withdrew from national attention.”

Also on the upside for Agnew: he was never implicated in the Watergate scandals. He died in Berlin, Maryland in 1976.

Here’s hoping T-Paw’s flirtation with the vice presidency has a happier ending.