1974 United States vice presidential confirmation

1974 U.S. vice presidential confirmation process

1974 United States vice presidential confirmation

* * *

| <- 1973 | December 10, 1974 (1974-12-10) (Senate)
December 19, 1974 (1974-12-19) (House) |

|
|

* * *

100 and 435 members of the Senate and House
Majority of both Senate and House votes needed to win
|  |  |

|
|

Nominee  | Nelson Rockefeller |  |
Party  | Republican |
Home state  | New York |
Electoral vote  | 90 (Senate)
287 (House) |
Percentage  | 92.8% (Senate)
69.2% (House) |

* * *

| Vice President before election

Gerald Ford

| Confirmed Vice President

Nelson Rockefeller

|

On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon (a Republican) was forced to resign amid the Watergate scandal. Vice President Gerald Ford ascended to the presidency, leaving the office of vice president vacant. 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.

On August 20, 1974, Ford announced his nomination of former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to fill the vacancy.[1] Ford also considered picking Tennessee Senator Howard Baker[2] and then-U.S. Liaison Chief to China George H. W. Bush.[3] Rockefeller was generally considered to be a liberal Republican, and Ford decided that picking Rockefeller would help his candidacy gain support in the 1976 presidential election.[3] Rockefeller's nomination dismayed many conservatives; many conservative Democrats and Republicans opposed the nomination. This was especially true among members of the U.S. House of Representatives. 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.

The confirmation hearings for Rockefeller lasted for months, but Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States on December 19, 1974.[3] Due to the pressure on Ford by the party hardliners, Rockefeller was ultimately passed over for the 1976 ticket, and Ford instead chose Kansas Senator Bob Dole as his running mate. Ford, however, regretted this move later.[3]

## Confirmation votes

[edit]

By a vote of 90 to 7 on December 10, 1974, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Nelson Rockefeller.[4] Among those opposing and voting against Rockefeller's confirmation were 3 conservative Republicans: Barry Goldwater, Jesse Helms, and William L. Scott.[5] The following week, on December 19, the House of Representatives gave its approval, 287 to 128.[6]

1974 U.S. Senate
Vice presidential
confirmation vote: | Party  | Total votes

|
|

|  |  |
Democratic | Republican | Conservative | Independent
Yes | 52 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 90 (92.8%)
No  | 04  | 03  | 00  | 00  | 7 (7.2%)
Result: Confirmed
| Roll call vote on the nomination

Senator | Party | State | Vote
James Abourezk |

| South Dakota | Nay
George Aiken |

| Vermont | Yea
James Allen |

| Alabama | Yea
Howard Baker |

| Tennessee | Yea
Dewey Bartlett |

| Oklahoma | Yea
Birch Bayh |

| Indiana | Nay
John Glenn Beall |

| Maryland | Yea
Henry Bellmon |

| Oklahoma | No vote
Wallace Bennett |

| Utah | Yea
Lloyd Bentsen |

| Texas | Yea
Alan Bible |

| Nevada | Yea
Joe Biden |

| Delaware | Yea
Bill Brock |

| Tennessee | Yea
Edward Brooke |

| Massachusetts | Yea
James L. Buckley |

| New York | Yea
Quentin Burdick |

| North Dakota | Yea
Harry F. Byrd |

| Virginia | Yea
Robert Byrd |

| West Virginia | Yea
Howard Cannon |

| Nevada | Yea
Clifford Case |

| New Jersey | Yea
Lawton Chiles |

| Florida | Yea
Frank Church |

| Idaho | Yea
Dick Clark |

| Iowa | Yea
Marlow Cook |

| Kentucky | Yea
Norris Cotton |

| New Hampshire | Yea
Alan Cranston |

| California | Yea
Carl Curtis |

| Nebraska | Yea
Bob Dole |

| Kansas | Yea
Pete Domenici |

| New Mexico | Yea
Peter Dominick |

| Colorado | Present
Thomas Eagleton |

| Missouri | Yea
James Eastland |

| Mississippi | Yea
Sam Ervin |

| North Carolina | Yea
Paul Fannin |

| Arizona | Yea
Hiram Fong |

| Hawaii | Yea
J. William Fulbright |

| Arkansas | Yea
Barry Goldwater |

| Arizona | Nay
Mike Gravel |

| Alaska | Yea
Robert P. Griffin |

| Michigan | Yea
Edward Gurney |

| Florida | Yea
Clifford Hansen |

| Wyoming | Yea
Philip Hart |

| Michigan | Yea
Vance Hartke |

| Indiana | Yea
Floyd Haskell |

| Colorado | Yea
Mark Hatfield |

| Oregon | Yea
William Hathaway |

| Maine | Yea
Jesse Helms |

| North Carolina | Nay
Fritz Hollings |

| South Carolina | Yea
Roman Hruska |

| Nebraska | Yea
Walter Dee Huddleston |

| Kentucky | Yea
Harold Hughes |

| Iowa | Yea
Hubert Humphrey |

| Minnesota | Yea
Daniel Inouye |

| Hawaii | Yea
Henry M. Jackson |

| Washington | Yea
Jacob Javits |

| New York | Yea
J. Bennett Johnston |

| Louisiana | Yea
Ted Kennedy |

| Massachusetts | Yea
Russell B. Long |

| Louisiana | Yea
Warren Magnuson |

| Washington | Yea
Mike Mansfield |

| Montana | No vote
Charles Mathias |

| Maryland | Yea
John L. McClellan |

| Arkansas | Yea
James A. McClure |

| Idaho | Yea
Gale McGee |

| Wyoming | Yea
George McGovern |

| South Dakota | Yea
Thomas J. McIntyre |

| New Hampshire | Yea
Lee Metcalf |

| Montana | Yea
Howard Metzenbaum |

| Ohio | Nay
Walter Mondale |

| Minnesota | Yea
Joseph Montoya |

| New Mexico | Yea
Frank Moss |

| Utah | Yea
Edmund Muskie |

| Maine | Yea
Gaylord Nelson |

| Wisconsin | Nay
Sam Nunn |

| Georgia | Yea
Bob Packwood |

| Oregon | Yea
John Pastore |

| Rhode Island | Yea
James B. Pearson |

| Kansas | Yea
Claiborne Pell |

| Rhode Island | Yea
Charles H. Percy |

| Illinois | Yea
William Proxmire |

| Wisconsin | Yea
Jennings Randolph |

| West Virginia | Yea
Abraham Ribicoff |

| Connecticut | Yea
William Roth |

| Delaware | Yea
Richard Schweiker |

| Pennsylvania | Yea
Hugh Scott |

| Pennsylvania | Yea
William L. Scott |

| Virginia | Nay
John Sparkman |

| Alabama | Yea
Robert Stafford |

| Vermont | Yea
John C. Stennis |

| Mississippi | Yea
Ted Stevens |

| Alaska | Yea
Adlai Stevenson |

| Illinois | Yea
Stuart Symington |

| Missouri | Yea
Robert A. Taft |

| Ohio | Yea
Herman Talmadge |

| Georgia | Yea
Strom Thurmond |

| South Carolina | Yea
John Tower |

| Texas | Yea
John V. Tunney |

| California | Yea
Lowell Weicker |

| Connecticut | Yea
Harrison A. Williams |

| New Jersey | Yea
Milton Young |

| North Dakota | Yea
1974 U.S. House
Vice presidential
confirmation vote: | Party  | Total votes

|
|

Democratic | Republican
Yes | 134 | 153 | 287 (69.2%)
No  | 098  | 030  | 128 (30.8%)
Result: Confirmed

## See also

[edit]

* Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
* 1973 United States vice presidential confirmation

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Glass, Andrew (December 19, 2012). "Rockefeller sworn in as vice president, Dec. 19, 1974". Politico. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
2. ^ Kincade, Vance (2000). Heirs Apparent: Solving the Vice Presidential Dilemma. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 35\. ISBN 9780275968663. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
3. ^ a b c d "Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, 41st Vice President (1974–1977)". United States Senate. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
4. ^ "To confirm the nomination of Nelson A. Rockefeller to be Vice-President of the U.S." govtrack.us. United States Senate. December 10, 1974. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
5. ^ Glass, Andrew (December 19, 2017). "Rockefeller sworn in as vice president, Dec. 19, 1974". Politico. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
6. ^ "To agree to H.Res. 1511, confirming Nelson A. Rockefeller as Vice President of the United States". govtrack.us. United States House of Representatives. December 19, 1974. Retrieved February 12, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Nelson Rockefeller Confirmation Hearings transcript, Ron Nessen Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
* Rockefeller's Opening Statement to Senate Rules Committee, YouTube.
*   * United States Congress. "1974 United States vice presidential confirmation (id: R000363)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
* Rockefeller Archive Center: Nelson Rockefeller, Contains details on the collection of public and private papers available to researchers at the center.

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