<P> Under increasingly immense pressure to resign, Agnew took the position that a sitting vice president could not be indicted and met with Speaker of the House Carl Albert on September 25, asking for an investigation . He cited as precedent an 1826 House investigation of Vice President John C. Calhoun, who was alleged to have taken improper payments while a cabinet member . Albert, second in line to the presidency under Agnew, responded that it would be improper for the House to act in a matter before the courts . Agnew also filed a motion to block any indictment on the grounds that he had been prejudiced by improper leaks from the Justice Department, and tried to rally public opinion, giving a speech before a friendly audience in Los Angeles asserting his innocence and attacking the prosecution . Nevertheless, Agnew entered into negotiations for a plea bargain, and wrote in his memoirs that he did so because he was worn out from the extended crisis, to protect his family, and because he feared he could not get a fair trial . He made his decision on October 5, and plea negotiations took place over the following days . On October 9, Agnew visited Nixon at the White House and informed the President of his impending resignation . </P> <P> On October 10, 1973, Agnew appeared before the federal court in Baltimore, and pled no contest to one felony charge, tax evasion, for the year 1967 . Richardson agreed that there would be no further prosecution of Agnew, and released a 40 - page summary of the evidence . Agnew was fined $10,000 and placed on three years' unsupervised probation . At the same time, he submitted a formal letter of resignation to the Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, and sent a letter to Nixon stating he was resigning in the best interest of the nation . Nixon responded with a letter concurring that the resignation was necessary to avoid a lengthy period of division and uncertainty, and applauding Agnew for his patriotism and dedication to the welfare of the US . House Minority Leader Gerald Ford, who would be Agnew's successor as vice president (and Nixon's as president) recalled that he heard the news while on the House floor and his first reaction was disbelief, his second sadness . </P> <P> Soon after his resignation, Agnew moved to his summer home at Ocean City . To cover urgent tax and legal bills, and living expenses, he borrowed $200,000 from his friend Frank Sinatra . He had hoped he could resume a career as a lawyer, but in 1974, the Maryland courts disbarred him . To earn his living, he founded a business consultancy, Pathlite Inc., which in the following years attracted a widespread international clientele . Describing his business methods, Agnew said: "I have one utility, and that's the ability to penetrate to the top people ." One deal concerned a contract for the supply of uniforms to the Iraqi Army, involving negotiations with Saddam Hussein and Nicolae Ceaucescu of Romania . </P> <P> Agnew pursued other business interests: an abortive land deal in Kentucky, and an equally stillborn partnership with golfer Doug Sanders over a beer distributionship in Texas . In 1976 he published a novel, The Canfield Decision, about an American vice president's troubled relationship with his president . The book received mixed reviews, but was commercially successful, Agnew receiving $100,000 for serialization rights alone . The book landed Agnew in controversy; his fictional counterpart, George Canfield, refers to "Jewish cabals and Zionist lobbies" and their hold over the American media, a charge which Agnew, while on a book tour, asserted was true in real life . This brought complaints from Seymour Graubard, of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, and a rebuke from President Ford, then campaigning for reelection . Agnew denied any antisemitism or bigotry: "My contention is that routinely the American news media...favors the Israeli position and does not in a balanced way present the other equities". </P>

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