Nixon instructed Agnew to avoid personal attacks on the press and the Democratic presidential nominee , South Dakota Senator George McGovern , to stress the positives of the Nixon administration , and not to comment on what might happen in 1976 . At the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach , Agnew was greeted as a hero by delegates who saw him as the party 's future . After being nominated for a second term , Agnew delivered an acceptance speech focused on the administration 's accomplishments , and avoided his usual slashing invective , but he condemned McGovern for supporting busing , and alleged that McGovern , if elected , would beg the North Vietnamese for the return of American prisoners of war . The Watergate break-in was a minor issue in the campaign ; for once , Agnew 's exclusion from Nixon 's inner circle worked in his favor , as he knew nothing of the matter until reading of it in the press , and upon learning from Jeb Magruder that administration officials were responsible for the break-in , cut off discussion of the matter . He viewed the break-in as foolish , and felt that both major parties routinely spied on each other . Nixon had instructed Agnew not to attack McGovern 's initial running mate , Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton , and after Eagleton withdrew amid revelations concerning past mental health treatment , Nixon renewed those instructions for former ambassador Sargent Shriver , who had become the new candidate for Vice President
1972 Republican National Convention
1972 Republican National Convention
Spiro Agnew