Spiro Agnew may not have been a household word when Presidential candidate Richard Nixon nominated the Maryland governor for the vice presidency five years ago. But Agnew's sudden exit from office this week may have won a dubious place in history for the man whose vice presidential fame and presidential aspirations were founded on his public image as a defender of law and order.

So last night, from his $190,000 Bethesda, Md., home, Spiro Agnew watched the man who chose him as a running mate in 1968 name House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford (R-Mich.) to succeed him.

When he walked into court in Baltimore Wednesday, Agnew, who had repeatedly termed all charges against him "damned lies," announced he had resigned from the vice presidency and then pleaded no contest to a felony count of tax evasion.

U.S. District Court Judge Walter E. Hoffman fined Agnew $10,000--the maximum allowable--and sentenced him to a prison term of two to five months. But Hoffman suspended the jail sentence and placed Agnew on probation with far fewer restrictions than the average American receives for the crime for which Agnew admitted guilt.

Agnew never received a satisfactory response to his questions regarding the source of news leaks about the Baltimore grand jury investigation of reported bribery and extortion, as well as tax evasion.

But Agnew incurred Nixon's wrath last May when he attempted to dissociate himself from the Nixon Administration and its bout with political scandal. Speculation ensued about White House participation in the leakage of information concerning Agnew's alleged crimes before coming to the vice presidency.

Nixon himself apparently initiated the plea bargaining in which Agnew and the Justice Department have participated. And the chances are good that Agnew's confession of his sins will in a perverse way help the man who thrust Agnew into the national spotlight in July 1968.

Agnew's crimes will divert attention from the Watergate affair, and in Seymour M. Lipset's words, "This, combined with the Mideast war, will go a long way to taking Nixon off the hook." Number two's resignation probably forecloses the possibility of impeachment proceedings against Number one.

Agnew, his face drawn and his hands trembling, admitted to the court that he received payments in 1967 which he "failed to report for the purposes of income taxation." He said he knew the money should have been reported.

Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson '41 told the court that the Justice Department investigation of Maryland politics "established a pattern of substantial cash payments to the defendant Agnew during the period when he served as governor of Maryland [1966-1968] in return for engineering contracts with the State of Maryland."

In his statement to Hoffman, Agnew denied that any payments he received influenced his official actions as governor. "My acceptance of contributions was part of a long-established pattern of political fund-raising in the state," he said. "At no time have I enriched myself at the expense of the public trust."

Agnew said his decision to resign and plead no contest was based on "my firm belief that the public interest requires swift disposition of the problems which are facing me."

His lawyers, Agnew said, advised him that a legal battle over the charges facing him could drag on for years. He said he feared that "intense media interest in the case would distract public attention from other matters of public importance."

One thing is for certain: Agnew's resignation this week and the imminence of the president's announcement of his successor served Nixon well by distracting public attention from Nixon, Watergate and related scandals, and other matters of public importance.