In 1973 Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew began their 2nd term as POTUS and VP, and the Watergate hearings had not yet begun. By the summer of '73 Agnew was forced to resign as Vice President because he was accused (later found guilty) of corruption charges when he was governor of Maryland (or maybe it was Delaware.) Nixon had to select someone to replace Agnew but he wanted it to somebody who didn't look so good that Congress would go ahead and start impeaching him (Nixon.) He chose Gerald Ford who was already Speaker of the House and rather popular as a Michigan representative but not seen as a possible replacement for Nixon.
As the Watergate hearings came into full swing and Nixon's guilt became more apparent, the appointment of Ford took on a great meaning. In 1974 we had Watergate hearings, Saturday night massacre, secret tapes, smoking gun, etc. etc. and Nixon resigns. Gerald Ford who was never elected Vice President, becomes President on August 9th 1974. A few weeks later he appoints Nelson Rockefeller former governor of New York as his Vice President. Rockefeller was approved by the Senate, and we had 2 men in the top positions neither of whom had been elected. It could have been a coup but it wasn't, only because the Republican Party was very different in 1974 than it is today. Other than finally ending the Vietnam conflict Ford can't really say he did much as President, but he was a nice guy and didn't break any laws while in the White House.
If the same thing were to happen in 2018, probably we'd dispense with the Constitutional formalities and Vladmiir Putin would just fly into Washington and be sworn in as our next President.
Just sayin'
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