A Brief History
On December 19, 1974, Nelson Rockefeller was sworn in as Vice President of the United States, a job he was not elected to, to serve under President Gerald Ford, another guy not elected to the office he held, or even to the vice presidency before that!
Digging Deeper
This travesty of the so-called democracy in the United State was a result of Richard Nixon’s and Spiro Agnew’s malfeasances in office as the previous President and Vice President. Agnew was drummed out of office when he was convicted of fraud, and Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment over the Watergate scandal.
Gerald Ford, born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., a congressman from Michigan, had been appointed by Nixon to replace the disgraced Agnew who had been elected to office with Nixon both in 1968 and 1972. When Nixon resigned in 1974, Ford became President, and he in turn appointed Rockefeller as Vice President.
Prior to assuming the office of Vice President, Rockefeller had been Governor of New York until 1973. Although not politically active at the time of his appointment, it is not like Rockefeller needed the work because he was a member of the famous Rockefeller family, his grandfather being John D. Rockefeller, Sr., the co-founder of Standard Oil Company and the person believed to the richest man of all time (adjusted for inflation).
Surprisingly, for one born into fabulous wealth, Nelson Rockefeller, though a Republican, was decidedly a moderate one with liberal tendencies. He was also a philanthropist and a patron of the arts. His most infamous moment came only in 1979 at age 70 when he died of a heart attack while engaging in sexual relations with a 25-year-old aide in her office. As is so often the case, the salacious details were not disclosed to the public, and it was reported that he had died alone and that he was found slumped over his desk.
Nelson Rockefeller’s time as Vice President was relatively uneventful, but the country experienced crippling inflation and high oil prices due to the Arab oil embargo that resulted from the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. He was much more active as Governor of New York, where he was an anti-crime, “Law and Order” type of guy. His time as Governor, however, was marred by the Attica prison riot and massacre; his explanation to President Nixon why 39 people had been killed was “That’s life.” History and Headlines Fact: Rockefeller gave an unruly crowd the finger in 1976. On another occasion, Nelson showed that he was out of touch with reality by speaking of “average guys like you and me.” If Nelson Rockefeller considered himself an average guy, then it must be typical for average guys to have 4,100+ acre family estates with 70 miles of private roads and the ability to buy 18,000 acres in Texas for “recreation.”
All in all, the United States did not fair so badly with the two leaders it had not voted into office. Actually, the team may well have been a lot better than some of the other duos that have been elected to the White House. What do you think?
Note: In 2019-2020 the US is facing the impeachment of President Donald Trump, If the Senate votes to convict him of the 2 articles he is charged with (either of them), he will be forced from office and Michael Pence, the sitting Vice President will be sworn in as our new President. Pence with then appoint a new Vice President, one not elected by the people. Since Pence is also under investigation, the real possibility exists that he could also be impeached if he becomes President! (December 19, 2019)
Question for students (and subscribers): Do you believe someone that is not elected as Vice President should be allowed to ascend to the Presidency? Let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Smith, Richard Norton. On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller. Random House, 2014.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="7106 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=7106">78 Comments
“it had noted voted into office” – does anyone proofread anymore?
Dear Johninlongmont, As the editor of the article, I appreciate you bringing my oversight to my attention. I would like to point out, however, that I spend many hours every day proofreading and correcting numerous articles and sometimes (rarely) something might slip past me. If you are a regular reader of the site, you will surely have noticed that most recent articles are well written with little to no grammar mistakes. In cases when I do miss something, I am grateful when readers chime in. In the future though, when pointing out such errors on my part, please do so with a more understanding and with a less critical undertone. Thank you!
It’s funny how neither of these leaders were selected by the American people. I always kind of wondered why a second election isn’t held in these circumstances. Probably because it would take too long to mobilize voters and organize a campaign.
Why did Ford choose Rockefeller? It’s not like Ford just point to him and say “You’re the new Vice President. Congrats.”
I did not know that Gerald Ford’s birth name was actually Leslie Lynch King Jr.
Rockefeller did not seem like the greatest VP.
I never knew that Rockefeller was a Vice President.
I did not know that Rockefeller was republican but had liberal tendencies.
I was unaware that Rockefeller was the vice president.
It’s kind of strange that Vice Presidents are much less well known than Presidents. Most people know a majority of the Presidents, but the only Vice Presidents that reach fame are those that succeed their President. Otherwise, very few Vice Presidents are known.
I never knew that Rockefeller was a Vice President.
I didn’t know that Gerald’s name wasn’t Gerald. Woah.
Never even realized he was a vice president
It was new to me that Nelson was a vice president. I could agree with amber where she said that vice presidents are less more known than presidents
I had no idea that Gerald Ford was born with a different name that he later changed.
I think that a lot of what presidents do are wrong. I think this was one of the turns in our presidency’s
I never knew that we had a Rockefeller as one of our vice presidents. We hear about the families all the time and the success of the family. It is true when Amber said VP’s are less known than Presidents.
I was actually shocked that there was a Rockefeller in the running for a vice president position. I have never heard of this before.
I have never heard of this before. I never knew that a Rockefeller was one of our vice presidents.
I never knew that this was a thing America went through and it’s interesting to know that the two did an okay job.
I was not aware Rockefeller served as Vice President.
I have never heard about Rockefeller. I agree that him calling himself an average man was not a realistic statement because he was born into money.
I do not think how rich you are determines whether or not you are in touch with average Americans. And good for Rockefeller going out with a smile on his face!
I am not familiar with Rockefeller with being Vice President but it is nice to see he did great in office!
Interesting to see how this course of events took place. Such an unusual moment in American history.
I was not familiar with the story surrounding Rockefeller as the VP, but it was interesting to read about what he did in office.
That is a surprising story about Rockefeller, I was not really familiar with this Vice President. I feel that money should not really have a role in how you choose to run the country. It should only matter with the decisions you make and what they think is best for the country.
I have actually never heard of Agnew and his conviction of fraud. Ford seemed to have come into office with plain luck when considering the downfall of Agnew and Nixon.
amazing that he died at 70 in such a shocking way. american politics have a very long and wild history
I did not know Rockfeller was in office, but it is good he made the right choices for the country and did good in office.
I was completely unaware that Rockefeller was a Vice President! It is surprising how much I do not know about history.
Rockefeller did not seem like her was a favorable man in the office, especially if he was flipping people off in the process.
He had such a strange way of dying. I realized that I did not know that much about Rockefeller.
I knew about the famous businessman Nelson Rockefeller, but I never knew that he served as Vice President of the United States. It is crazy that during his time in office the country was suffering from high oil prices.
I have never known much about Nelson Rockefeller.
I think it is pretty cool and important that Rockefeller was a philanthropist. This just goes to show all of the people that benefited from this wealthy man.
I found it very interesting that Nixon was able to appoint someone as president after the Watergate Scandal. I would have thought that some sort of comity would choose the president.
I never knew this about Rockefeller. I am glad to learn and read about this topic. I had not clue that he was ever a VP.
I never knew that Rockefeller was vice president. I found this article very interesting.
Interesting to see who inherits the seats in offices during times of trouble. I never knew Rockefeller was in office!
Rockefeller was an interesting guy to say the least. He sounds a little rough around the edges for someone of such prestige.
The interesting things in the article are that Rockefeller as Vice President was lead the country experienced crippling inflation and high oil prices and he died of a heart attack while engaging in sexual relations in her office.
I like reading theses articles and leading something new. I was unaware that Rockefeller was ever the Vice President.
I never knew that Rockefeller was vice president. But it is interesting to hear more about the American history.
I never knew this till now.
I never have heard about this. this was really interesting to read about.
I had no idea that Rockefeller suffered from a heart attack and died in the situation that he did.
i never Know about it but it is interesting
The way that Rockefeller died is very interesting, not many probably know that. It is kind of interesting too, that neither Rockefeller, nor Ford were formally elected.
Looks like Clinton wasn’t the only one getting busy in the Oval Office. “Allegedly”.
I would hope to think that anyone who takes an oath of office for VP would be honorable even if they were not voted in that position. However, many are not as we have seen in the past and present.
Interesting article. I did not know that neither of them were not elected.
I never knew this! Crazy how somethings fall into place in our government system.
Nelson Rockefeller was quite the character! Ford was not a bad president, but I mainly remember his wife and the Betty Ford Clinic.
I find it very interesting that they tried to say he died alone when he was with someone else.
it was hard to believe two people running our country that wasn’t elected but it seems like they did ok.
I think with any President we can list bad things that had happened. The sad thing is now we all know about the 25 year old so we will relate that with Rockefeller.
Sometimes its people that we never hought of do the best work.
President Ford did not do a bad job and sometimes people can surprised you with there abilities. The government is always covering something up that happens in the White House, because they do not want other countries to see our dirty secrets.
It sad that there is so much corruption in a free election country. I will never understand why anyone would want to place them self in the shine light of the public with such a shady background.
Wow, Nelson Rockefeller was sworn in to the vice president position. He sounds like he was a cool guy, died at age 70 while having sex with a 25 year old woman.
Typical political conundrums involving scandal, sex, and attitudes. Not surprised but impressed they functioned as well as they did.
This seems like one of those could have been worse situations. From the sounds of it Nelson Rockefeller never truly cared for anyone but himself and never had to worry about his actions, hence giving the finger to the public or having sexual relations with a 25 year old that led to his death.
I bet the nation was shocked that the duo did a decent job picking up what they were left with especially since they were not voted on!
I think I like Rockefeller. The fact that he did not sugar coat tings or get all politically correct about everything leads me to believe that he is a real person. not just a say what people want to hear kind-of politician.
I am not sure how I feel about Rockefeller. There is not a whole lot to go off of with this article, except he behaved like a typical rich, entitled man, with out a real sense of direction or guidance for the government.
Interesting story. What are the odds that both the elected President and Vice President would leave office, forced or unforced, and leave our country without a leader. Ford and Rockefeller did a seemingly good job for our country while in office.
I think Rockefeller was a straight shooter he did not try to make things seem better than they were. From what I know of these two men they did a good job while they were in their positions.
A rich business man with family money held the second highest office in the United States. I wonder what that reminds us of today?
“Actually, the team may well have been a lot better than some of the other duos that have been elected to the White House”.
I can think of a few other tandems that they were better than.
I actually visited the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan last summer. Even though we was only president for a short while, I was impressed to the level of public service that he dedicated his life to. He never truly aspired to be POTUS, as many others have.
I do find it interesting to know that not one but two people held office while not elected. I’m curious to know why Gerald Ford picked Rockafeller to serve as his vice president.
Oh my! This article has me laughing. What a way to die! It almost seems unbelievable. I can only imagine the amount of coverup that occurred after his death to conceal the public from the real truth of the incident.
It’s funny to read about politicians that seem so far removed from the reality of their duty to serve their constituents. The time of American politics that this article describes seems so steeped in corruption and strife. I wonder how my experience of American politics compares to what people went through in the early 1970s.
i don’t know how to make comment for american government, but i see this history of vice president was a funny and unbelievable points
Nelson Rockefeller should not doing that sexual behavior with his aid in the office. It is a strange way of death made on him.
The things I learn from these articles is AMAZING! Seems as though this was anther government official who had no boundaries and felt there would be no consequences for any actions he did. Seems as though karma always finds a way.
Gross.
I never knew Rockefeller was vice president. Its amazing what I have learned from these articles, Nevertheless it is quite gross what he did.