“Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

Lyndon Johnson’s now iconic words shocked the nation and set the stage for Richard Nixon’s return to the political stage. Had Johnson chosen to run for reelection—beleaguered as he was by the Vietnam War—he would have had the advantage of incumbency behind him. Moreover, the Democrats might have avoided the disastrous optics of their 1968 convention in Chicago, and perhaps they may have prevented Nixon and Agnew from ever sitting in the Oval Office. Without Nixon and Agnew in the White House, the country would have been spared one of the most sordid chapters in its history.

“Funny thing, this, old habits die hard. And when the exercise of those habits has delivered fame and glory and raucous applause, they are unlikely to die at all.”

Agnew’s “political brand” is built around his willingness to say anything, regardless of its offensiveness. He views it as an asset to be cultivated rather than a fault to be corrected or hidden away. To his supporters, his insults and racial slurs are simply part of his “straight talk.” When that brash and aggressive style earn him a place on the Republican ticket, Agnew sees it as validation to continue doing what he has always done: counterpunch. In 2004, Howard Dean was the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. His front-runner status came largely from the unscripted