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.

Presidential campaigns

Agnew was known for his tough criticisms of political opponents, especially liberal journalists who he charged were guilty of advocacy journalism in the coverage, particularly of the Vietnam War. He was known for attacking his opponents with unusual turns of phrase. Among his most famous were "nattering nabobs of negativism", which his speechwriter William Safire coined, and "effete corps of impudent snobs". White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan has been credited with coming up with "pusillanimous pussyfoots" and "hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history". Agnew is also generally credited with being the first to use the term "radiclib", an abbreviation of "radical liberal".

Related Topics:
Vietnam War - Nattering nabobs of negativism - William Safire - Patrick Buchanan - Radiclib

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Agnew toned down his rhetoric and dropped most of the alliterations after the 1972 general elections.

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