Lawyer, Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and Vice President of the United States, Spiro Agnew was born in Baltimore on November 9, 1918, the son of Theodore Agnew, a Greek immigrant, and Margaret Akers Agnew. Spiro attended Baltimore public schools and in 1937 enrolled at the Johns Hopkins University. Agnew dropped out of Johns Hopkins in 1939 and then took night courses at the University of Baltimore Law School. Drafted into the army in 1941, Agnew served in the European theater of World War II. After his discharge at war's end, Agnew completed law school in 1947 and began his career as an attorney.

In 1942 Agnew married Elinor Judefind and the couple eventually had four children, Pamela (1944- ), Randy (1947- ), Susan (1948- ), Kimberly (1956- ). The family moved to Baltimore County ca. 1946, where Agnew established his law practice about 1947 (he had previously practiced law in Baltimore City). Agnew became involved in Baltimore County politics, persuaded that the GOP offered more opportunities than did the Democrats for office. A registered Republican, Agnew was appointed to the Baltimore Zoning Board of Appeals in 1957. In 1962, Agnew ran for County Executive and scored an upset victory. As County Executive Agnew modernized the county's government but decided not to seek reelection. Instead in 1966 he ran as the Republican nominee for governor of Maryland. Running against Democrat George Mahoney, who based his campaign against open housing legislation (which prohibited racial discrimination by landlords) and adopted the slogan, "Your Home is Your Castle: Protect It," Agnew won easily, capturing 50 percent of the vote.

During Agnew's first year as governor he compiled a series of legislative accomplishments, including overhauling Maryland's tax system. He rose to national prominence in April 1968 in the wake of the Baltimore riots after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. After a week of disturbances Agnew addressed a gathering of Maryland's civil rights leaders. Before television cameras Agnew placed some of the blame for the violence on the assembly, and criticized black leadership for spinelessness during the riots. The speech attracted national attention. Just four months after his Baltimore speech, Richard Nixon selected Agnew as his vice presidential running mate. The Nixon-Agnew ticket won a narrow victory in November 1968.

Agnew proved to be a controversial vice president. Conservative Republicans cheered his attacks on the media and anti-war protestors, while liberals and Democrats denounced him as a demagogue. After his reelection with Nixon in 1972, Agnew's political career ended in 1973. Federal prosecutors investigating corruption in Baltimore County found evidence that suggested Agnew had been taking kickbacks from contractors since his time as Baltimore County Executive. Agnew initially denied the allegations, but on October 11, 1973, he pleaded no contest to tax evasion and that same day resigned the vice presidency.

After his resignation Agnew established a career as an international businessman. He died in Ocean City, Maryland, on September 17, 1996, of leukemia.

Cohen, Richard M. and Jules Witcover. A Heartbeat Away: The Investigation and Resignation of Vice President Spiro T. Agnew. New York: The Viking Press, 1974.

Lippman, Theo. Spiro Agnew's America: The Vice President and the Politics of Suburbia. New York: W.W. Norton, 1972.