How many Vice Presidents have resigned?

This question appears on our U.S. History Trivia game.  Here's the question:  How many Vice Presidents have resigned?  0, 1, 2, or 4?


Alright, so we're asking the question here, and this would be a pretty lame blog entry if the answer was 0.  Anyway, the correct answer is 2.  Who were they, and where'd they go?

Well, the first V.P. to resign was John Calhoun.  Calhoun was a hero of the south: Congressman, Secretary of War and two-time Vice President.  It was in his 2nd go-round as VP that Calhoun resigned.  A crisis developed between Calhoun and the President, Andrew Jackson.  In response to the Tariff of 1828 (the Tariff of Abominations), Calhoun believed that any state could impose nullification, a doctrine which held that a state could nullify a law it believed was unconstitutional.  Jackson opposed the doctrine.  This disagreement ultimately lead to Calhoun resigning as Vice President.  He was immediately appointed as Senator from South Carolina, where he became a states-rights leader.  The conclusion came to a head with the adoption of the Compromise Tariff of 1833 - however, the crisis ended Calhoun's national ambitions.

V.P. #2 to resign was good old Spiro Agnew.  Agnew was selected to be Nixon's Vice President in 1968 and was a favorite of the "law and order" types of the country.  Formerly the Governor of Maryland and Baltimore County Executive, Agnew developed a large base of conservative supporters who appreciated Agnew's tough, controversial statements.  Agnew resigned in scandal in 1973 - but this scandal was unconnected to Watergate.  Instead, Agnew found himself in trouble after being accused of accepting $29,500 in bribes from his time as Governor.  He ultimately plead no contest to charges of tax evasion from unreported income (you know, that bribe money).

Sources:

• James Calhoun
• Spiro Agnew