Spiro Agnew Dies At 77 -- Nixon's Vice President Quit In 1973 Scandal

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Spiro T. Agnew, Richard Nixon's strident point man who railed against the media as "nattering nabobs of negativism" and became the only U.S. vice president forced to resign in disgrace, is dead at age 77.

Mr. Agnew died yesterday of undiagnosed leukemia at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Md., near his summer home in Ocean City, hospital officials said today.

Flags at federal facilities were ordered lowered to half-staff today, White House officials said.

Picked from relative obscurity by Nixon as his running mate in 1968, Mr. Agnew established himself as a national political force by employing colorful phrases in criticizing anti-war protesters, liberals and the media, and by proclaiming himself spokesman for the "Silent Majority."

"Spiro Agnew had something few people in this city ever show: raw political courage," Nixon speech writer Pat Buchanan said today. "At a time when the Establishment was craven in its pandering to rioters and demonstrators, Vice President Agnew told the truth about both of them."

"We speak of the Ronald Reagan revolution. . . . Spiro Agnew was the John the Baptist for that revolution," said Victor Gold, Agnew's campaign press secretary.

Mr. Agnew's most famous lines came in a 1970 speech, when he attacked the media as "nattering nabobs of negativism" and "the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history."

His meteoric six-year rise from county government to Maryland

governor in 1966 to vice president came to an abrupt halt in October 1973, when he pleaded no contest to a charge of income-tax evasion and resigned.

Feeling that Nixon had sacrificed him to mollify Watergate critics, Mr. Agnew withdrew from political life, working as a businessman and splitting time between homes in Ocean City, Md., and Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Only one other vice president - John C. Calhoun, who had a political split with President Andrew Jackson - was forced to resign from office. Mr. Agnew's was the first resignation stemming from legal problems.

In court, Mr. Agnew did not contest the charge that he "willfully" evaded paying $13,551.47 in federal income taxes in 1967.

But following the plea, he denied all the government's allegations, including claims that he accepted cash kickbacks from contractors over 10 years while Baltimore County executive, governor and vice president.

Mr. Agnew's denials were rejected today by the prosecutor who handled the case, George Beall.

"The case was not based on an isolated act. There was a pattern that was demonstrable for a long time," Beall said.

Mr. Agnew was later disbarred by the Maryland Court of Appeals, and in 1981 was ordered to pay $268,482 to the state to cover the kickbacks and interest.

He was born on Nov. 9, 1918, in suburban Baltimore, the son of a Greek immigrant father. He became a lawyer and moved into politics, winning his first election to become executive of Baltimore County in 1962.

Before that election, he had been chairman of the county zoning board, winning a reputation for integrity.

Only very rarely did he appear on a TV show or grant an interview. He continued to assert his innocence in his book, "Go Quietly . . . or Else," published in 1980.

He is survived by his wife, Judy, their son and three daughters. ----------------------------------------------------------------- What Agnew said

Nixon speech writer William Safire coined most of the metaphors the late Spiro Agnew used, but Mr. Agnew eagerly joined in the spirit of things. Once asked to choose between two hyperbolic phrases for a text, he said: "Let's use them both."

"A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterized themselves as intellectuals." - On Vietnam War protesters, in a 1969 speech

"They have never done a productive thing in their lives. They take their tactics from Fidel Castro and their money from daddy." - On students protesting the Vietnam War

"In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism." - His description of the press corps during a 1970 speech in San Diego

"When you've seen one slum, you've seen them all." - Explaining why he did not make a campaign stop in an inner-city neighborhood

"At no time have I enriched myself at the expense of the public trust." - Federal court statement on Oct. 10, 1973

President Nixon "naively believed that by throwing me to the wolves, he had appeased his enemies." - In his book, "Go Quietly . . . or Else"

"I decided after 20 years of resentment to put it all aside. I'm here to pay tribute to the man's many accomplishments and to express our sympathy." - On attending Nixon's funeral

Associated Press, Los Angeles Times