** ADVANCE FOR SUNDAY, SEPT. 28 AND THEREAFTER -- FILE ** In this Aug. 8, 1973 black-and-white file photo, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew calls on a reporter during a news conference in Washington. It’s been maligned, lampooned and dismissed as irrelevant. The vice presidency of the United States is a weird mix of also-ran, up-and-comer, key adviser and, of course, potential leader of the free world. And yet its history is one of obscurity and haze. (AP Photo/File)