Tonight I was watching 'The Wire' and they commented that a person would be thrown out of office if people rioted whilst they were in charge of a place, unless that person was Spiro Agnew. I had heard the name Spiro Agnew before, I think it was in an episode of 'The Simpsons,' but I didn't recall the reference made to him, just his name. So I was intrigued enough to do a Google search, and it turns out that he was the 39th Vice President of America. Spiro was Governor of Maryland in 1968, when the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jnr. took place. He further angered the African American community after the riots, however this did not prevent him from going on to become Vice President in 1969. So I guess that is what the characters on the show were talking about when they referred to Spiro Agnew.
Furthermore I went on to learn that Spiro Agnew was the only Vice President in American history to resign due to criminal charges. He was charged with accepting bribes to the value of 100,000 dollars over his political career. I found this interesting because you often hear about how corrupt American politicians are, and that many of them use their powers for their own self gain. However, if Spiro was the only Vice President to resign in the History of American politics due to criminal charges, then maybe this stereotype of politicians is not accurate. Or perhaps it is just more prevalent among the lower level politicians and the majority of Vice Presidents are honest. Most likely it is that when politicians rise high enough they are better at hiding their corruption. A cynical view perhaps, but that doesn't mean it can't be accurate! Whatever the reason, the main thing is that I now know Spiro Agnew's place in history.
Check out Wikipedia to read more about Spiro Agnew.
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