Very Strange Bedfellows - The Short and Unhappy Marriage of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew (Paperback)

President Richard Nixon and his first vice president, Spiro Agnew, were an odd couple who began a political love affair that devolved over the span of five years into a very messy estrangement. From their initial lunch, during which Agnew garnered approval by disparaging Nixons rival, Nelson Rockefeller, to Agnews ignoble resignation in the face of a kickback scandal, it was a tumultuous five years. Witcover shows that their relationship reflected their personalities: Nixon, deeply vulnerable and misanthropic, wanted to be around a mans man, which he believed Agnew was. Agnews pride led him to crave more responsibility than the distrustful Nixon (and his close-knit White House) could ever give. Witcover expertly fills in the story of this administration, whose doom was almost pre-ordained.