Arthur Sohmer

Arthur J. Sohmer (February 16, 1926 – August 25, 1991) held a number of government offices, including serving as Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States when Spiro T. Agnew served as Vice President of the United States.

Sohmer was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He served in the United States Navy during World War II and graduated from Lafayette College and the law school at the University of Maryland at Baltimore.

Sohmer moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1956. In 1962 he ran for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates but lost in the primary. Later that year he managed Spiro Agnew's successful campaign for Baltimore County Executive. Agnew was the first Republican to win that office, a feat not repeated until 1990. Sohmer was appointed by Agnew to the Baltimore County Tax Appeals Court in 1963 and became its chief judge in 1964. Sohmer then managed Agnew's successful campaign for Governor of Maryland in 1966. Sohmer then managed appointments in the Maryland governor's office.

After Agnew was elected vice president in 1968 on a ticket with Richard M. Nixon, Sohmer became Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States. After Agnew's resignation in 1973, Sohmer held positions with the General Services Administration and the U.S. Railway Association.

In 1978 Sohmer became a founding partner in the Learning Tree, a mail-order company dealing in special education materials.

Sohmer died of lung cancer at his home in Woodstock, New York in 1991 at the age of 65.