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For all the limited opportunities of the vice-presidency, Agnew, at 51, has displayed small capacity for development. Ten years ago, he was president of the P.T.A. in Loch Raven village near Baltimore. Five years ago, he was the Baltimore county executive, presiding over a horseshoe-shaped suburban community that knew little of the urban agonies on which he is now supposedly an Administration expert. Today, as Vice President, he retains his earlier prejudices.
The Agnew life style has changed considerably, however. Last January the Agnews moved from the handsome 54-room Governor's mansion in Annapolis to a nine-room apartment in Washington's Sheraton Park Hotel. The capital has transformed the family's domestic life, which in years past consisted largely of lawn sprinklers, pizza, ping-pong in the basement rec room, Sunday afternoons watching the Baltimore Colts on color television. As Governor, Agnew could even have the Colts over for dinner from time to time.
Now the Vice President's schedule begins about 7:30 a.m. with breakfast and keeps him shuttling between White House, Executive Office Building and Capitol until 7 p.m.—or much later if there is an official reception to attend. He still sees his Maryland friends often, especially George White Jr., the family lawyer who presides over the Agnew family assets of some $100,000. Although his weekends are always subject to interruptions, Agnew has managed to trim off 15 lbs. by playing tennis, often with G.O.P. National Chairman Rogers Morton or Postmaster General Winton Blount. One thing that Agnew has not sacrificed is his pro football : this season he has made it to five Colts games, usually ducking into the locker room before kickoff to wish the team luck.
Agnew's wife Judy, who admits that "every once in awhile I think to myself, what am I doing here," must also sacrifice considerable domestic time ("I majored in marriage") for such chores as entertaining the wives of foreign visitors or chamber of commerce officials. Judy Agnew has two houseboys and a live-in housekeeper, Mrs. Ann Leer, who used to manage the Governor's mansion at Annapolis. But the Agnews do not entertain often at their own quarters, which can accommodate a party of only 20 or 25. For larger groups, they use the State Department reception rooms downtown.
Parental Discipline
Two of the four Agnew children still live at home—Kim, 13, and Susan, 22. Susan is now dating Maryland State Trooper Colin Maclndoe, an old friend from Annapolis. The Agnews were always close to the state police, who were assigned to guard the Maryland Governor's mansion. One of the first dinner parties that the Vice President held in Washington was for the state troopers from the old palace guard. Noble Collison, a state cop with whom Judy Agnew used to play pool in the Governor's mansion, has joined Agnew's Washington staff.