presidential campaign and was appointed Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In 1970, Finch left the HEW to be Counselor to the President. He left the White House on December 15, 1972, to practice law in Pasadena, and he stayed involved in the Republican politics. Even though Finch had no involvement in the Watergate scandal, references to it dimmed his efforts for elective office. He was an unsuccessful primary candidate for U.S. Senate in the 1976 California election against S.I. Hayakawa, who went on to win the general election. During the 1968 presidential election, Finch was Nixon's first choice as his vice presidential running mate, but Finch declined and Nixon then chose Governor of Maryland Spiro Agnew. A Nixon-Finch ticket was possible because, although Nixon was born in California, and had represented California in Congress, during the 1968 election he was a resident of New York, so California's electors could have cast their votes for both men. If both had been California residents at the time, California's electors could have voted for only one of them. Following Nixon's election, Finch was given his choice in the new Cabinet, and he selected Secretary of HEW because of his long interest in health and education issues. Finch was more liberal than Nixon, especially on social issues, but political differences never affected their long and close relationship, with the two staying in contact until Nixon's death in April 1994. Death Finch died of heart disease, in Pasadena, California, on October 10, 1995, aged 70, a day after his 70th birthday. He is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. References External links Finding aid for the Robert H. Finch Oral History, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library "Political Themes for a Non-Presidential Election Year" is an audio recording of a talk by Finch at the Commonwealth Club of California in 1970, from the Hoover Institution Archives. |- |- |- 1925 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American politicians United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War American Presbyterians Arizona Republicans California Republicans Lieutenant Governors of California Nixon administration cabinet members Occidental College alumni People from La Cañada Flintridge, California United States Marine Corps officers United States Secretaries of Health, Education, and Welfare USC Gould School of Law alumni