Book Pick: Bagman by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz

Short title, long subtitle: The wild crimes, audacious cover up & spectacular downfall of a brazen crook in the White House.

I, like many news hounds back in 73, was riveted to the 2 year long Nixon impeachment drama playing out in D.C.

But simultaneously a second White House crime drama was playing out in secret. The feds were investigating Veep Spiro Agnew’s bribery and extortion plot involving government contractors delivering cash to Agnew in the Maryland Governor’s office and lastly his White House office.

Watergate so overshadowed Agnew’s criminality it was little noted and quickly forgotten by most Americans.

That’s a shame. Agnew’s troubles came at a momentous time; possibly elevating him the presidency just as federal prosecutors in Baltimore uncovered an avalanche of slam dunk evidence that should have quickly removed Agnew from office just as the presidency was headed for vacancy.

But Agnew pulled a Trump playbook 45 years before The Donald turned it into a fine art of surviving his presidency by gaslighting his accusers and enlisting his base for unflinching support.

Agnew wasn’t creating new scorched earth tactics when advised of his impending indictment likely to imprison him. He was picked for Veep precisely for his personal, vicious attacks at all things progressive. He campaigned that way, he governed that way once elected, and like Trump, Republicans loved him for it.

Rather than cop a plea for a relatively small fine and prison sentence, Agnew held the Vice Presidency hostage, vowing never to resign. His strategy?

Attack the investigation as a witch hunt. Obstruct it behind the scenes. Attack the credibility of the Justice Department. Attack individual investigators in personal terms. Attack the media for informing the citizenry.

Sound familiar?

In the end Agnew traded his office for no prison time and a paltry fine, pleading ‘nolo contendere’ to one count of tax evasion.

Prosecutors led by Attorney General Elliot Richardson cringed at such a paltry penalty, but preventing Agnew from succeeding a soon to be impeached president took priority.

Most Americans today likely don’t know Spiro T. Agnew pioneered the tactics that nearly overturned the last election. Maddow and Yarvitz’s riveting history is a welcome refresher course in this momentous and fascinating history.