Watergate without the 25th Amendment

I suspect that Congress would pass a different law on succession. Either making it a Cabinet line (which is much more sensible anyway) or possibly make provision for a special election
 
I suspect that Congress would pass a different law on succession. Either making it a Cabinet line (which is much more sensible anyway) or possibly make provision for a special election

But remember that Nixon can veto any law on succession that would make it easier to get rid of him, and it would take a two-thirds majority of both houses to override...
 
The only thing that would change is that Nixon could not appoint a new vice president. When Agnew resigns for his own problems, Nixon is stuck. He will still resign to save himself from impeachment. Speaker of the House Carl Albert would become president.
 
The only thing that would change is that Nixon could not appoint a new vice president. When Agnew resigns for his own problems, Nixon is stuck. He will still resign to save himself from impeachment. Speaker of the House Carl Albert would become president.

Which may cause some difficulties, given Albert's problems with the bottle...
 
. . . Speaker of the House Carl Albert would become president.
And that's why Nixon might sign a new law on succession.

Perhaps Secretary of State Henry Kissinger cannot become president since he's not native born. Maybe whoever is Sec. of Treasury would be next in line?
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
And that's why Nixon might sign a new law on succession.

Perhaps Secretary of State Henry Kissinger cannot become president since he's not native born. Maybe whoever is Sec. of Treasury would be next in line?
That would be the Energy Czar William E. Simon- assuming Nixon still picks him.
 
And that's why Nixon might sign a new law on succession.

Perhaps Secretary of State Henry Kissinger cannot become president since he's not native born. Maybe whoever is Sec. of Treasury would be next in line?

Ahh. I misunderstood what was being asked. I thought there was an implication the line of succession was in the 25th Amendment. Sorry about that!
 
Which may cause some difficulties, given Albert's problems with the bottle...
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I think it was Elizabeth Drew writing way back in the '70s who noticed that many Americans thought that if Nixon was impeached, McGovern would become president. That is, they used the analogy of a sports championship. If a team's victory is vacated for whatever reason, the team they played becomes champion.

And in general, impeachment was an idea people warmed to rather slowly.
 
If that was well known, the House could elect a different Speaker when it first looked like Nixon wouldn't finish his term.

The problem seems to have been pretty well known:

"Vice President Spiro T. Agnew pleaded no contest to taking bribes. The next man in line under the Constitution, House Speaker Carl Albert, was being treated for alcoholism. The president himself, by some accounts, was drinking heavily..." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/us/politics/21haig.html?_r=0

"After rumors following an auto mishap in 1972, Albert says he has all but given up drinking." http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20064674,00.html

"Questions about Albert's own drinking were raised in Anderson's column and later spilled onto the news pages when the speaker smashed up his car outside his favorite bar, the Zebra Room. Witnesses described him as 'obviously drunk.'" http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gover...shington+alcoholics:+their+aides...-a06306545
 
Having James Eastland as Acting President during the Yom Kippur War may cause even more difficulties...

https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/a-very-bad-year-1973-pt-1.76630/#post-1365755

(Though without a 25th Amendment, at least he can't nominate Vice President Daley)

I once had a soc.history.what-if post about President Eastland:

***
In 1973, after the resignation of Spiro Agnew from the vice-presidency,
some of the more left-wing Democrats in Congress, led by Bella Abzug, urged
that Congress not confirm Gerald Ford or any other replacement Nixon would
name for Agenw. Rather, they argued, Congress should let the office of
vice-presidency stay vacant until Nixon was impeached and convicted. Then
Speaker of the House Carl Albert, a Democrat, would become president.

There are a number of reasons why this scenario, which I discussed in a
post here a few years ago, was unlikely. For one thing, Albert had
problems with the bottle. But let's say he had overcome them, and seemed
as plausible a president as Gerald Ford. And let's say Abzug managed to
convince enough of her fellow Democrats to block Ford's nomination. (Or if
that seems too implausible, let's say Nixon was stubborn about nominating
someone more controversial than Ford.) Anyway, the vice-presidency remains
vacant, Nixon is impeached and convicted (or as in OTL resigns) and Carl
Albert becomes president. So far, this has been discussed before in this
group. But I want to add one twist: Almost as soon as Albert becomes
president--and before he can name a new vice-president or the House can
elect a new Speaker--he is assassinated by a right-winger outraged at the
"constitutional coup" that had brought Albert to power. The result is that
the president pro tempore of the Senate becomes POTUS. And from 1972
through 1978 the president pro tempore was none other than Mississippi's
arch-segregationist James Eastland.

This is a scenario I find a lot scarier than the one I mentioned in a
previous post about Strom Thrumond becoming POTUS in 1981. (For one thing,
there is the Yom Kippur War, but let's assume that Nixon as in OTL stays in
office until well after it is over and that by the time Eastland becomes
POTUS, there is no immediate danger of a third world war.) Thurmond had
appointed black staffers, pushed through the appointment of black federal
judges, and in general had shown that he realized his former segregationism
was no longer viable. Eastland's racial views were worse than Thurmond's
to begin with, and AFAIK he never modified them the way Thurmond did.
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/9egSQ-gmuDE/2OSTXc9Wr8oJ
 
The problem seems to have been pretty well known:

"Vice President Spiro T. Agnew pleaded no contest to taking bribes. The next man in line under the Constitution, House Speaker Carl Albert, was being treated for alcoholism. The president himself, by some accounts, was drinking heavily..." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/us/politics/21haig.html?_r=0

"After rumors following an auto mishap in 1972, Albert says he has all but given up drinking." http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20064674,00.html

"Questions about Albert's own drinking were raised in Anderson's column and later spilled onto the news pages when the speaker smashed up his car outside his favorite bar, the Zebra Room. Witnesses described him as 'obviously drunk.'" http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Governing+under+the+influence;+Washington+alcoholics:+their+aides...-a06306545

Tip O'Neill was next in line among House Democrats. He would have become Speaker upon Nixon's resignation. Or the House could have dumped Albert and made Tip the new Speaker when the impeachment proceedings began.

Eastland would have very little chance, and that's a good thing. Something would have to happen to Albert after Nixon resigned and before the House officially elected a new Speaker.
 
It's possible Nixon would be better off if his replacement was going to be a Democrat and Republicans would not want to sacrifice the White House and think it would be a Democrat power-grab. He'd probably still be removed but he may choose to fight to the bitter end and be impeached rather than resign.
 
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