Spiro Agnew’s Gridiron Club Speech
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (1918–1996) became newsworthy by criticizing the media, prompting CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite (1916–2009) to call Agnew’s rhetoric “an implied threat to freedom of speech.” When Agnew beaned a fellow golfer, Bob Hope quipped, “Now that Spiro’s got the bean-ball shot, he can’t wait to play with Walter Cronkite.” For Agnew’s speeches to the Gridiron Club, a Washington correspondents organization, Hope and his writers contributed self-mocking jokes satirizing Agnew’s rhetorical flourishes, his golf game, and his antagonistic relationship with the press.
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (1918–1996) became newsworthy by criticizing the media, prompting <em>CBS Evening News</em> anchor Walter Cronkite (1916–2009) to call Agnew’s rhetoric “an implied threat to freedom of speech.” When Agnew beaned a fellow golfer, Bob Hope quipped, “Now that Spiro’s got the bean-ball shot, he can’t wait to play with Walter Cronkite.” For Agnew’s speeches to the Gridiron Club, a Washington correspondents organization, Hope and his writers contributed self-mocking jokes satirizing Agnew’s rhetorical flourishes, his golf game, and his antagonistic relationship with the press.