In May 1971, Vice President Spiro Agnew visited Fort Knox.
After a day of ceremonies and tours on post, he addressed a banquet held during the 82nd annual meeting of the U.S. Armor Association. Following Agnew's address, in which he praised the Army for its role in Vietnam, Maj. Gen. William Desobry presented Agnew with a Master Tanker Award.
A veteran of the Second World War, Agnew was familiar with the post. He graduated from the Officer Candidate School at Fort Knox in May 1942 and, with his newly wedded wife Judy, lived in Elizabethtown until January 1943. While overseas, he was a company commander with 54th Armored Infantry Battalion, 10th Armored Division, and fought in the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns.
Agnew was awarded a Bronze Star for his military service and was discharged in early 1946. Following the war, he practiced law and embarked on a political career that took him to the vice presidency of the United States under President Richard Nixon in 1969.
Agnew resigned after pleading no contest to tax evasion in October 1973.
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