657

FIRST YEAR AS GOVERNOR
Interview by Joseph McCaffrey, WMAL-TV, Washington

January 24, 1968

Introduction by Mr. McCaffrey. Governors have an advantage, prob-
ably, over other officeholders. Political writers tend to lean just a
little in their direction because they know that being the chief execu-
tive of a state is probably the most trying political job. Most of that
is trying to raise money to pay the bills.

In Governor Agnew's case the cards are stacked a little unevenly
because as a Republican governor he has a Democratic legislature.

Spiro Agnew is the 55th man to be elected Governor of Maryland.
He was inaugurated just about a year ago, the 25th of January, 1967.

Born in Baltimore City in 1918, the son of an immigrant, Spiro
Agnew was educated in the City public schools, John Hopkins Uni-
versity where he studied chemistry for three years before he turned to
law and the University of Baltimore where he received his Bachelor
of Laws degree in 1947 after returning from World War II.

During the War he served as a company commander with the 10th
Armored Division in Europe and put in another year of army service
during the Korean War. Once in public life he moved fast.

In 1957 he was named minority member of the Baltimore County
Board of Appeals and later became its chairman. In 1962 he was
elected County Executive despite the fact that the Democrats had a
four to one edge in registration. And in 1966, he was elected Governor
on the day before his 48th birthday.

Q. Governor, to start this on a silly question, how do you enjoy your
job?

A. Joe, I guess it's like most other jobs, it has its good days and it
has its bad days, but all in all it's interesting, it's challenging. The bad
days seem to fade away on the heels of a good one, on the prospect of
a good one which we know is going to come.

Q. You have been in the job now for a year. How does the job it-
self measure up to what you thought it was when you were serving as
County Executive of Baltimore County and what you thought it was
when you were campaigning for it?

A. Pretty much what I expected. I can't say that I could foresee the
depth of the ceremonial demands of the office and the impact of hav-
ing nearly four million people to be responsive to. But from an ad-