Spiro Agnew

Spiro Theodore Agnew, born Spiro Anagnostopoulos (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) in Towson, Maryland, was the thirty-ninth Vice President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1973 under President Richard M. Nixon.

Early life

Spiro Agnew was born to Theodore Spiro Anagnostopoulos and Margaret Akers. His father emigrated from Greece to the United States in 1897 and owned a restaurant. He would become a Baltimore Democratic ward leader and well known in the local Greek community. His mother was from Virginia.

Related Topics:
Greece - United States - 1897 - Virginia

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Agnew attended public schools in Baltimore before enrolling in Johns Hopkins University in 1937. He studied chemistry at Johns Hopkins University for three years before being drafted to join the U.S. Army and serving in Europe during World War II. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in France and Germany.

Related Topics:
Chemistry - Johns Hopkins University

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Prior to leaving for Europe, Agnew began working at an insurance company where he met and, on May 27, 1942, married another company employee, Elinor Isabel Judefind, known as Judy. They would eventually have four children: Pamela, James Rand, Susan, and Kimberly.

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Upon his return from the war, Agnew transferred to the evening program at the University of Baltimore School of Law, which was then a private school. He studied law at night while working as a grocer and as an insurance salesman.

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Agnew received a law degree in 1947 and moved to the suburbs to begin practicing law in Towson in Baltimore County. He passed the bar in 1949.

Related Topics:
1947 - 1949

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