George McGovern announced that Thomas Eagleton would step down from his ticket, fifty years ago last night: #AP 
After McGovern kicked Eagleton off the ticket, Nixon gloated about VP Agnew, "I think he is the best man for the job today -- and I am not going to change my mind tomorrow!"
But the following year, Nixon forced Agnew to resign under threat of possible prison sentence.
But the following year, Nixon forced Agnew to resign under threat of possible prison sentence.
Text of private handwritten letter written by President Nixon to Thomas Eagleton's son Terry after McGovern expelled his father from Democratic ticket, 1972:
George McGovern's (and RFK's) close adviser Frank Mankiewicz loyally insisted to me decades later that McGovern had a substantial chance to defeat Nixon up to the day that the Eagleton episode began.
cc: @JoshMankiewicz @BenMank77
cc: @JoshMankiewicz @BenMank77
@JoshMankiewicz @BenMank77 Eagleton's close adviser when he left McGovern's ticket fifty years ago was Douglas Bennet, father of @SenatorBennet, who in 2020 ran for President himself.
@JoshMankiewicz @BenMank77 @SenatorBennet After Eagleton read Nixon's kind letter to his son Terry, he called Nixon's aide Pat Buchanan (who had worked for a St. Louis paper) to thank him.
Eagleton did not know that Buchanan was the one who had secretly told Nixon the lethal rumors about Eagleton's mental health.
Eagleton did not know that Buchanan was the one who had secretly told Nixon the lethal rumors about Eagleton's mental health.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
