The first POD comes on the morning of May 15, 1972. Arthur Bremer is arrested for shoplifting and can't shot Wallace. Wallace accepts the nomination of the American Independent Party. The second POD comes on September 27, 1972, when Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward writes a front page story on an investigation by the FBI and the Maryland US Attorney into tax evasion and bribery on the part of Vice President Spiro Agnew On September 28, 1972. President Richard Nixon fires the Maryland US Attorney. He sets off a storm of criticism. His poll numbers drop, On election day the popular vote is Nixon 47% George McGovern 42% and Wallace 10 5. Nixon wins a wide margin in the Electoral College: Wallace 16 Mississippi and Alabama, McGovern 52 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, District of Columbia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and Oregon, Nixon 470 everywhere else.
In November 1972, the House Judiciary Committee begins investigating Nixon' s firing of the US Attorney. They uncover evidence of Agnew's crimes. On January 11, an article of impeachment against Agnew is passed. With public opinion turning against Agnew, The Justice Department indicts Agnew on January 12, 1972. Agnew begins plea bargaining offering his resignation in exchange for no prison time. The Department of Justice only offers a reduced prison time. On Inauguration Day, Agnew does not attend the ceremony. He is sworn in privately, signs a letter of resignation than leaves to start his two year prison term.