The charge of impeachment is a serious offense, one that permanently stains the reputation of a government official. However, impeachment is a fundamental part in the system of checks and balances within the federal government. The process starts with the House of Representatives voting to charge an official with articles of impeachment. Then, a committee of representatives act as prosecutors before the Senate. The Senate becomes both the jury and the judge, with the exception of presidential impeachment trials, where the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides. The articles of impeachment need to have a two-thirds majority vote, and the penalty for an accused officer is removal from office. According to the Constitution, only the most serious of offenses should warrant the impeachment of a president, offenses including, "treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors". In the history of the United States, there have only been two presidents who have been impeached: Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) and Bill Clinton (1969-1974). However, Richard Nixon(1969-1974) resigned before he had the chance to be impeached, and remains the only President to resign the office.
The impeachment of Andrew Johnson was a result of the political conflict that came after the Civil War. Before Lincoln was assassinated, he had formulated a plan of allowing the southern states to rejoin the Union. His plan called for amnesty to be granted to states who pledged an oath of loyalty to the United States and agreed to follow federal laws for slavery. Additionally, if a tenth of the voters in a particular state agreed to an oath of loyalty, that state could start sending representatives to Congress. However, some Republicans wanted to set up more stringent terms for the admission of southern states. A political conflict erupted, and only grew when Johnson removed Edwin Stanton, his Secretary of War and stalwart supporter of Congressional Reconstruction, from office. This breached the Tenure of Office Act, which stated that a President could not dismiss appointed officials without the consent of Congress. It was Stanton who called for the impeachment of Johnson. The Senate voted on Johnson's impeachment, and acquitted him by one vote.
In 1972, a security guard caught a group of burglars trying to break into the DNC office and wiretap phones and steal secret documents. It turned out that those burglars were from Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP). However, Nixon tried to cover up the incident by offering hush money to the burglars and working with the CIA to prevent the FBI from looking further into the case. This was a blatant abuse of power and a deliberate obstruction of justice. Further investigations brought Nixon's involvement in the scandals to light. Nixon was ordered to release the tapes containing recordings of his conversations in the Oval Office, but he refused to do so, claiming executive privilege. The House of Representatives passed the first article of impeachment against Nixon for obstruction of justice before Nixon finally released the incriminating tapes. 3 days later, he resigned, becoming the first and only President to resign.
Bill Clinton's presidency is considered to be the most investigated presidency ever. For example, Travelgate happened when long-term employees of the White House travel office were fired and replaced with friends of the Clintons from Arkansas. However, the most notorious crisis that Clinton was ever involved with was the Lewinsky Scandal, or Monicagate. Clinton had engaged in an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. After the story leaked, Clinton openly lied to the Senate. The House of Representatives approved the three articles of impeachment on the grounds of perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of power. The Senate, however, voted to acquit Clinton of all charges, and he was able to keep his presidency.
Sources:
http://www.nps.gov/anjo/learn/historyculture/impeachment.htm
http://www.andrewjohnson.com/11BiographiesKeyIndividuals/EdwinMStanton.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/watergate
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-charged-with-first-of-three-articles-of-impeachment
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-clinton-impeached
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeachments/clinton.htm
I think it's pretty surprising that only two impeachments have been voted on and no president has actually been impeached. As far as I know, other countries seem to have higher rates of impeachment or the equivalent of impeachment, like in the Philippines or Brazil right now. What stops the president from being impeached when there is a political coalition against them?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeffrey that it is interesting that no other presidents have been impeached. In a country so well monitored one would think there would be sufficient scandal found with the presidents to provide more evidence, but perhaps there is a need for presidents to maintain a clear reputation when dealing with foreign countries.
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