and what is wrong with intellectuals (except the intellectuals who just think they are)?
Agnew was President Nixon's first Vice President. He was a corrupt politican (like Nixon himself) who was forced to resign (before Watergate) because of improper campaign contributions he'd received and other influence-peddling offenses.
He was famously antagonistic towards the press. His other famous quote (was it from the same speech?) was to refer to the press corps as "nattering nabobs of negativism."
Agnew is one of the least lamented Vice Presidents in our long history of V.P. non-entities.