Let's say that the illegal bribes Vice President Spiro Agnew took while Governor of Maryland are uncovered in early 1971, and the circumstances are bad enough for President Richard Nixon to view Agnew as a liability. Nixon does not ask Agnew to resign immediately, but he also does not ask him to run for re-election as his vice presidential nominee, instead nominating House Minority Leader Gerald Ford. How differently would the US Presidential Election of 1972 have gone if Agnew was to leave in disgrace on January 20th, 1973? Would this make George McGovern's Thomas Eagleton controversy seem as bad? If Nixon wins re-election, how early might he resign if Watergate is still an issue? How would Gerald Ford's alternate tenure affect his prospects for the presidency in 1976?