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

Under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, 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.

[1] Ford also considered picking Tennessee Senator Howard Baker[2] and then-U.S. Liaison Chief to China George H. W.

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.

[4] Among those opposing and voting against Rockefeller's confirmation were 3 conservative Republicans: Barry Goldwater, Jesse Helms, and William L.