Are you also anim butterflying away the Agnew scandal? It is now forgotten but in the early 70's
Spiro was quite popular within the G.O.P. Once Nixon had been re-elected in 1972, he of course due to the two-term amendment would have been powerless to stop Agnew from taking advan-
tage of this & getting the G.OP. nomination in 1976. Agnew believe it or not had such stature that
yes, I think he would have been the nominee if his financial shannigans hadn't been uncovered. As the one & only Hunter S Thompson noted as early as January 1973, "In the opinion of Republcan
insiders---Agnew is much closer than is generally believed to having the 1976 nomination locked
up. As one of them put it to me recently, 'If 100 equals the nomination, then Agnew is now at 75 or better.'"*
*- Quoted in Hunter S Thompson, FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL '72, footnote on p. 346 of the 1973, paper- back edition.