would then select someone to fill the vice presidential slot. He said "this would mean both Ford and the new Vice President would be men who hadn't been elected to their high office, but merely nominated by a President under procedures for filling the vice presidency when it is vacant." Curtis served as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference from 1975 to 1979. Later life Following his retirement, Curtis moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he practiced law, served as an officer of the conservative lobby the American Freedom Coalition, and gave occasional interviews to the media. Curtis died in Lincoln on January 24, 2000, and is interred at Minden Cemetery in Minden, his longtime hometown. Following his death, he was praised on the floor by Strom Thurmond, a contemporary who had also been first elected to the Senate in 1954. Notes and references External links The Political Graveyard |- |- |- |- |- 1905 births 2000 deaths Nebraska lawyers Nebraska Wesleyan University alumni People from Kearney County, Nebraska Republican Party United States senators from Nebraska Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska Old Right (United States) 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians People from Minden, Nebraska