Slow Burn – Watergate | Episode 8: Going South

Host: Leon Neyfakh
Date: January 30, 2018
Podcast: Slate’s Slow Burn
Season 1 Focus: The Watergate Scandal

Episode Overview

This episode, titled "Going South," dives into the dramatic downfall of Vice President Spiro Agnew during the Watergate crisis. Host Leon Neyfakh explores how Agnew’s ouster in an unrelated bribery scandal became entangled with the chaos of Watergate, altering the trajectory of Nixon's presidency and the nation's democratic fabric. Through first-hand interviews and archival audio, the episode highlights how one shocking event made the idea of removing a president no longer unthinkable.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Spiro Agnew’s Rise: Law-and-Order and Racial Politics

• Agnew's Image:
  • Presented as an "uncompromising champion of law and order."
  • Notable for bringing in the National Guard and U.S. Army to quell the 1968 Baltimore riots after MLK Jr.’s assassination ([00:33-00:51]).
• Rhetoric on Civil Rights:
  • Agnew drew harsh lines, blaming "evil men" for riots rather than "evil conditions":
    • "I cannot believe that the only alternative to white racism is black racism." — Spiro Agnew ([01:03])
• Role in Nixon’s Southern Strategy:
  • Chosen as VP to attract white Southern Democrats disenfranchised by the Democratic Party’s support of civil rights ([01:29-01:46]).
  • Neyfakh notes Agnew became Nixon's proxy, voicing sharp rhetoric Nixon could not afford to say aloud ([01:46-02:11]).

2. Vice Presidential Defiance During Watergate

• Agnew publicly sided with Nixon at the scandal’s peak, wielding colorful language:
  • "Sometimes the presidency is like being a jackass caught in a hailstorm. You've got to just stand there and take it." — Spiro Agnew defending Nixon ([02:11]).

3. Agnew’s Own Criminal Scandal

• In July 1973, Agnew himself was revealed to be under investigation for bribery, extortion, and tax evasion—stretching back to his Maryland governorship ([02:31-02:52]).
• Journalist Elizabeth Drew:
  • "You had the Vice President... in the Executive Office Building next to the White House, with people turning up with these envelopes full of cash." ([03:02])
• Agnew’s vehement denial:
  • "I am innocent of the charges against me." — Spiro Agnew ([03:13])
• Ultimately, Agnew takes a plea (nolo contendere), resigns, and serves no prison time. The national reaction is one of shock and incredulity ([03:22-03:44]).
  • "The restaurants were louder than usual, the city felt drunk. We were kind of on a high." — Elizabeth Drew ([03:44])

4. Interconnection with Watergate

• Neyfakh points out the remarkable overlap: Agnew’s scandal is totally distinct from Watergate, but unfolding at its boiling point ([03:51-04:16]).
• Agnew's resignation, just ten days before the Saturday Night Massacre, helped destabilize Nixon’s remaining support ([03:51-04:14]).
• “While Agnew was vice president, Nixon regarded him as his impeachment insurance ... When Agnew was replaced with the relatively inoffensive Gerald Ford, that bit of game theory no longer applied.” — Leon Neyfakh ([04:14])

5. Making Nixon’s Removal Possible

• “Once you’re on an unprecedented path, suddenly it becomes easier to imagine other unprecedented things happening.” — Nicole Hemmer, historian ([05:12])
• The show explores how Agnew's resignation made Nixon's own downfall seem not only possible, but inevitable.

6. Building to Impeachment

• As Congress faced the "huge challenge" of defining impeachable offenses, Drew and others recall the fevered atmosphere, the sense anything could happen ([06:00-06:07]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Agnew's Scathing Line:
  • “It is not evil conditions that cause riots, but evil men.” ([01:03])
• Defending Nixon with Color:
  • “Senator Ervin has been doing his rain dance in that Washington committee.” ([02:11])
• On the National Mood:
  • “We were kind of on a high. We’d never been through anything like this before, and we didn’t know where it was going.” — Elizabeth Drew ([03:44])
• On Precedent:
  • "Once you’re on an unprecedented path, suddenly it becomes easier to imagine other unprecedented things happening.” — Nicole Hemmer ([05:12])

Important Segments & Timestamps

| Segment / Topic | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------|------------| | Agnew's role in the Southern Strategy | 00:33-01:46| | Agnew’s aggressive defense of Nixon | 02:11-02:31| | Agnew’s bribery investigation revealed | 02:31-02:52| | Journalist Elizabeth Drew recounts cash deliveries | 03:02 | | Agnew denies charges | 03:13 | | Agnew resigns; national mood described | 03:44 | | Analysis: how Agnew’s fall changed Watergate's stakes| 03:51-05:12| | Nicole Hemmer on shifting attitudes | 05:12 | | Introduction to impeachment debate | 06:00 |

Conclusion

This episode showcases how Agnew's shocking resignation not only precipitated Nixon’s own crisis but changed the very fabric of American politics. Both a reflection on the chaos of the era and an analysis of how “unthinkable” consequences become reality, "Going South" serves as a vivid reminder: yesterday’s precedent can be tomorrow’s norm.

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