On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon (a Republican) was forced to resign amid the Watergate scandal. Vice President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

ascended to the presidency, leaving the office of vice president vacant. Under the terms of the

25th Amendment The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with presidential succession and disability. It clarifies that the vice president becomes president if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, a ...

, a vice presidential vacancy is filled when the president nominates a candidate who is confirmed by both houses of Congress, which were controlled by the Democrats. On August 20, 1974, Ford announced his nomination of former New York Governor

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

to fill the vacancy. Ford also considered picking Tennessee Senator

Howard Baker Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 June 26, 2014) was an American politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader and then ...

and former Republican National Committee Chairman

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

. Rockefeller was generally considered to be a liberal Republican, and Ford decided that picking Rockefeller would help his candidacy gain support in the 1976 presidential election. Rockefeller's nomination dismayed many conservatives; many

conservative Democrats In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with conservative political views, or with views that are conservative compared to the positions taken by other members of the Democratic Party. Traditionally, co ...

and Republicans opposed the nomination. This was especially true among members of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. However, some House opponents were liberal Democrats who looked askance at some minor improprieties disclosed during Rockefeller's confirmation hearings and whose partisanship had been hardened due to the leftover effects from the political and psychological trauma of Watergate. The confirmation hearings for Rockefeller lasted for months, but Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States on December 19, 1974. Due to the pressure on Ford by the party hardliners, Rockefeller was ultimately passed over for the 1976 ticket, and Ford instead chose Kansas Senator

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

as his running mate. Ford, however, regretted this move later.

Confirmation votes

The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

approved the nomination of Nelson Rockefeller on December 10, 1974 by a vote of 90 to 7. The following week, on December 19, the House of Representatives gave its approval, 287 to 128. Notably, the seven senators to oppose his nomination were Senators

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

of Arizona (R) (who had a feud with Rockefeller dating back to the 1964 Republican presidential primary), Birch Bayh of Indiana (D),

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...

of North Carolina (R), Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio (D), James Abourezk of South Dakota (D), William Scott of Virginia (R), and Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin (D).

References

External links

Nelson Rockefeller Confirmation Hearings ''transcript''
Ron Nessen Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Rockefeller's Opening Statement to Senate Rules Committee
YouTube. *
Rockefeller Archive Center: Nelson Rockefeller
Contains details on the collection of public and private papers available to researchers at the Center. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vice presidential confirmation, 1974 Vice presidency of the United States Gerald Ford Nelson A. Rockefeller Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution 93rd United States Congress 1974 in American politics

Confirmation votes

See also

References

External links