282 a short history of the united states
every state but Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, for a total
of 520 electoral and 47 , 169 , 911 popular votes to 17 electoral and 29 , 170 , 383
popular votes for McGovern and Shriver. Nixon garnered over 60 per-
cent of the pop ular vote, to 37. 5 percent for McGovern. It was a sizable
victory for the Republican ticket—the third-highest electoral total in
the history of presidential elections—but would soon end in one of the
most notable defeats any president had ever sustained.
In Congress there was mounting opposition to the President’s habit
of impounding funds for programs enacted by the legislature that he did
not approve. Earlier, Nixon had tried and failed to get Congress to give
him authority to decide where spending cuts should be made. So he
bypassed Congress and simply blocked execution of the appropriations
where he disapproved. Several leaders of the Democratic majority pro-
tested. They pointed out that the constitutional balance between the
executive and legislative branches was being eroded, that Nixon was
involved in an outright and improper encroachment of congressional
authority, that he was violating the fundamental law of the land.
Congress also resented the President’s exercise of his authority as
commander in chief to involve the nation in foreign wars without the
approval of the legislature. It finally decided to act, despite threats of a
presidential veto. In 1973 it passed the War Powers Resolution, which
required the chief executive to consult with Congress before commit-
ting troops in any hostilities. It further required the termination of any
militar y engagement within sixt y days unless Congress declared war or
authorized a continuation of the engagement. Nixon vetoed the resolu-
tion, arguing that it violated his constitutional obligations, but on
November 7 , 1973 , Congress overrode the veto. The War Powers Act
became law without the President’s signature and has been regularly
ignored or bypassed by subsequent chief executives.
The increasing awareness of Nixon’s disregard of constitutional lim-
itations on the presidency was suddenly overshadowed by the problems
besetting the Vice President. Spiro Agnew was indicted on the charge
of accepting payoffs from construction company executives while gov-
ernor of Maryland and while Vice President. The case was settled when
Agnew pleaded no contest to a single charge of income tax evasion on
October 10 , 1973. It was part of a plea bargain, and he resigned his
office as Vice President of the United States.