TLS, one page, 7.25 x 10.5, personal letterhead, October 14, 1974. Agnew writes a stern letter to the editors of the Baltimore Sun newspaper. In full: “The Sunpapers have not improved their poor record for accuracy. This is apparent from the article written by your Mr. Erlandson in the Morning Sun of October 10. Mr. Erlandson states that I ‘saw a decade of venality in public office spread on the public record.’ It would have been accurate to say I saw accusations of venality in public office spread on the public record.’ It would have been fair to say that I saw accusations of venality in public office spread on the public record, and it would have been fair (Heaven knows the Sun is unfamiliar with the word) to indicate that I denied all those accusations in open court, except for the single tax charge.” In very good condition, with light creasing and wrinkling, some light staining and an irregular block of toning at the lower right corner, and two areas of thin paper from old tape removed on the reverse. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, aa clipping of the newspaper article to which Agnew refers, and his Letter to the Editor as it appeared in print.
Reelected with Richard Nixon in 1972, Vice President Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973, after the US Justice Department uncovered widespread evidence of his political corruption, including allegations that his practice of accepting bribes had continued into his tenure as the nation’s second-in-command. Such accusations, he maintained, were unjust. “I saw accusations of venality in public office spread on the public record, and it would have been fair (Heaven knows the Sun is unfamiliar with the word) to indicated that I denied all those accusations in open court, except for the single tax charge,” he sternly notes. Indeed, Agnew did plead no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion, and was disbarred by the State of Maryland. Exactly one year after Agnew left public office, the Baltimore Sun interviewed him for an article headlined ‘Agnew keeps the good life’—a story that the fallen politico took great offense, rejecting the aspersions cast by the Baltimore reporter and the fact that the chain of papers had not “improved their poor record for accuracy.” Quite the biting rebuke against the Fourth Estate. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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