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Some suggestions for "nonpresidential" Vice Presidents, discussed informally by Democrats: William P. Rogers, the recently resigned Secretary of State; John Sherman Cooper, former Senator from Kentucky; Gerald Ford, Republican leader in the House; and Barry Goldwater—who quickly said that he was not interested.
The strongest criticism of the arguments for installing a stopgap Vice President came from a politician who might have to face any major figure who was put in the job and then went on to run for the presidency. Yet he called for just that: a strong Nixon choice. Senator Kennedy, still the leader in the polls for the Democratic nomination in 1976 despite the lingering shadow of Chappaquiddick, declared: "We know the enormous burden the Vice President must bear [if] he accedes to the office of the President. The last thing the country needs is a caretaker Vice President, unable to enjoy the confidence of the country he may be called to lead."
As his week of ordeal drew to a close, Agnew was showing every sign of being determined to press rather than quit.
Rebuffed by the White House and the Justice Department in his effort to strike a bargain, Agnew was planning to file suit this week to prevent the Government's grand jury from even hearing any evidence against him, on the constitutional ground that a Vice President is exempt from any phase of criminal proceedings until impeached.
This is the first step in what is likely to be a long and costly legal fight. To pay the bills, Agnew's office disclosed the formation of an "Agnew defense fund" that will collect contributions from friends and supporters. He might, of course, still resign suddenly, but it sounded like a call to arms from a man determined to fight.