Spiro T. Agnew was a politician who served as the 39th Vice President of the United States from 1969 to 1973, under President Richard Nixon. In 1973, he was investigated on charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery, and conspiracy. Agnew was allowed to plead no contest to a single charge that he had failed to report income, with the condition that he resign the office of Vice President. Agnew was the second Vice President in United States history to resign, and the only one to do so because of criminal charges. Critics have cited Agnew as being one of the worst Vice Presidents in American history.