Editing Spiro Agnew (section)

=== "Nixon's Nixon": attacking the left ===
The public image of Agnew as an uncompromising critic of the violent protests that had marked 1968 persisted into his vice presidency. At first, he tried to take a more conciliatory tone, in line with Nixon's own speeches after taking office. Still, he urged a firm line against violence,{{sfn|Witcover|2007|p=64}} stating in a speech in Honolulu on May 2, 1969, that "we have a new breed of self-appointed vigilantes arising—the counterdemonstrators—taking the law into their own hands because officials fail to call law enforcement authorities. We have a vast faceless majority of the American public in quiet fury over the situation—''and with good reason''."{{sfn|Coyne|1972|p= 207}}

On October 14, 1969, the day before the anti-war [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam|Moratorium]], North Vietnamese premier [[Pham Van Dong]] released a letter supporting demonstrations in the United States. Nixon resented this, but on the advice of his aides, thought it best to say nothing, and instead had Agnew give a press conference at the White House, calling upon the Moratorium protesters to disavow the support of the North Vietnamese. Agnew handled the task well, and Nixon tasked Agnew with attacking the Democrats generally, while remaining above the fray himself. This was analogous to the role Nixon had performed as vice president in the Eisenhower White House; thus Agnew was dubbed "Nixon's Nixon". Agnew had finally found a role in the Nixon administration, one he enjoyed.{{sfn|Coffey|2015|pp= 95–96}}

Nixon had Agnew deliver a series of speeches attacking their political opponents. In New Orleans on October 19, Agnew blamed liberal elites for condoning violence by demonstrators: "a spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals".{{sfn|Levy|2013|p=719}} The following day, in [[Jackson, Mississippi]], Agnew told a Republican dinner,{{sfn|Coyne|1972|p= 176}} "for too long the South has been the punching bag for those who characterize themselves as liberal intellectuals{{sfn|Levy|2013|p=720}}&nbsp;... their course is a course that will ultimately weaken and erode the very fiber of America."{{sfn|Coyne|1972|p= 255}} Denying Republicans had a [[Southern Strategy]], Agnew stressed that the administration and Southern whites had much in common, including the disapproval of the elites. Levy argued that such remarks were designed to attract Southern whites to the Republican Party to help secure the re-election of Nixon and Agnew in 1972, and that Agnew's rhetoric "could have served as the blueprint for the culture wars of the next twenty-to-thirty years, including the claim that Democrats were soft on crime, unpatriotic, and favored flag burning rather than flag waving".{{sfn|Levy|2013|pp=719–720}} The attendees at the speeches were enthusiastic, but other Republicans, especially from the cities, complained to the [[Republican National Committee]] that Agnew's attacks were overbroad.{{sfn|Witcover|1972|pp=306–307}}

In the wake of these remarks, Nixon delivered his [[Silent Majority]] speech on November 3, 1969, calling on "the great silent majority of my fellow Americans" to support the administration's policy in Vietnam.{{sfn|Levy|2013|p=721}} The speech was well received by the public, but less so by the press, who strongly attacked Nixon's allegations that only a minority of Americans opposed the war. Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan penned a speech in response, to be delivered by Agnew on November 13 in [[Des Moines, Iowa]]. The White House worked to assure the maximum exposure for Agnew's speech, and the networks covered it live, making it a nationwide address, a rarity for vice presidents.{{sfn|Levy|2013|pp=722–723}} According to Witcover, "Agnew made the most of it".{{sfn|Witcover|1972|p=311}}

Historically, the press had enjoyed considerable prestige and respect to that point, though some Republicans complained of bias.{{sfn|Levy|2013|p=728}} But in his Des Moines speech, Agnew attacked the media, complaining that immediately after Nixon's speech, "his words and policies were subjected to instant analysis and querulous criticism&nbsp;... by a small band of network commentators and self-appointed analysts, the majority of whom expressed in one way or another their hostility to what he had to say&nbsp;... It was obvious that their minds were made up in advance."{{sfn|Coffey|2015|p=100}} Agnew continued, "I am asking whether a form of censorship already exists when the news that forty million Americans receive each night is determined by a handful of men&nbsp;... and filtered through a handful of commentators who admit their own set of biases".{{sfn|Witcover|1972|pp=313–314}}

Agnew thus put into words feelings that many Republicans and conservatives had long felt about the news media.{{sfn|Coffey|2015|p=100}} Television network executives and commentators responded with outrage. [[Julian Goodman]], president of [[NBC]], stated that Agnew had made an "appeal to prejudice&nbsp;... it is regrettable that the Vice President of the United States should deny to TV freedom of the press".{{sfn|Witcover|1972|p=314}} [[Frank Stanton (executive)|Frank Stanton]], head of [[CBS]], accused Agnew of trying to intimidate the news media, and his news anchor, [[Walter Cronkite]], agreed.{{sfn|Levy|2013|p=724}} The speech was praised by conservatives from both parties, and gave Agnew a following among the right.{{sfn|Levy|2013|pp=725–726}} Agnew deemed the Des Moines speech one of his finest moments.{{sfn|Coffey|2015|p= 101}}

On November 20 in [[Montgomery, Alabama]], Agnew reinforced his earlier speech with an attack on ''The New York Times'' and ''The Washington Post'', again originated by Buchanan. Both papers had enthusiastically endorsed Agnew's candidacy for governor in 1966 but had castigated him as unfit for the vice presidency two years later. The ''Post'' in particular had been hostile to Nixon since the [[Alger Hiss|Hiss]] case in the 1940s. Agnew accused the papers of sharing a narrow viewpoint alien to most Americans.{{sfn|Coffey|2015|pp= 103–104}} Agnew alleged that the newspapers were trying to circumscribe his First Amendment right to speak of what he believed, while demanding unfettered freedom for themselves, and warned, "the day when the network commentators and even the gentlemen of ''The New York Times'' enjoyed a form of diplomatic immunity from comment and criticism of what they said is over."{{sfn|Coyne|1972|pp=274–275}}

After Montgomery, Nixon sought a détente with the media, and Agnew's attacks ended. Agnew's approval rating soared to 64 percent in late November, and the ''Times'' called him "a formidable political asset" to the administration.{{sfn|Coffey|2015|pp=105–106}} The speeches gave Agnew a power base among conservatives, and boosted his presidential chances for the 1976 election.{{sfn|Levy|2013|p=731}}