Impeachment!

Definition: Impeachment
Impeachment is an action by the House of Representatives that accuses the president, vice president or other civil
officer of the United States of committing, 'Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.' In other
words, it is the formal bringing of charges or accusations against one of the government officials listed above.

Impeachment Process
Oftentimes, when we hire someone to do a job like cleaning, handiwork or landscaping, we sign a contract with him
or her. In that contract, we agree to pay for that person's services and in return, he or she agrees to do the work to
the best of our satisfaction. If for some reason the person we hired is not performing the work to our satisfaction, we
can end the contract or fire the person. Something similar to this happens in our federal government when the
president doesn't perform his job to the satisfaction of the American people and Congress. The contract that the
president is bound to is the U.S. Constitution. When the president doesn't perform his job as expected in the
Constitution, he can be removed by the process of impeachment.
The process of impeachment only involves the formal bringing of charges against a person, usually the president, by
the House of Representatives. The official's actual removal from office is a separate process that takes place by a
formal trial that is handled by the Senate. So, if the House votes to impeach a government officer, it will draw up
articles of impeachment and submit them to the members of the Senate, who then conduct the actual trail.

Impeachment is the first step in the process specified in the Constitution of the United States for removing the
president, vice president, or other government official from office upon conviction of "treason, bribery, or other high
crimes and misdemeanors." The U.S. House of Representatives has "the sole power of impeachment" — that is, the
power of bringing charges. The U.S. Senate has "the sole power to try all impeachments." Conviction in the Senate
requires a two-thirds vote. When the president is to be tried, the chief justice of the United States presides. A
conviction in an impeachment proceeding results only in removal from office and disqualification to hold "any office
of honor, trust, or profit under the United States." A person convicted in an impeachment, however, is subject to
further "indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to Law."
Impeachment originated in England, where the House of Commons would present articles of impeachment to the
House of Lords, which then tried the case. A well-known instance was the impeachment and trial (1786–95) of
Warren Hastings, first governor general of India.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution, although committed to a separation of powers and independence of the three
branches of government from one another, believed that a means must be provided by which officers thought to be
guilty of significant misconduct could be tried and removed. They did not want the procedure to be overly simple to
invoke, nor the penalty too easily imposed — hence, the requirements of the two-thirds vote for conviction in the
Senate, and the stipulation that impeachment be for "treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeandors."
To George Mason's suggestion that "maladministration" be a ground for impeachment, both James Madison and
Governor Morris objected that so vague a term would surely produce the result that tenure in office would be at the
pleasure of the Senate.
In 1868, President Andrew Johnson was tried by the Senate on charges voted by the House. The Senate failed by
one vote to convict Johnson. In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted three charges of impeachment against
President Richard M. Nixon, but he resigned from office before the charges could be voted upon by the House. In
December 1998, the full House, dividing largely along partisan lines, voted to impeach President Bill Clinton on
charges of perjury and obstruction of justice arising from his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton's trial by the
Senate began in January 1999. On February 12, he was acquitted by a vote of 55-45 on the first charge and 50-50
on the second.
Impeachment proceedings have been brought with some frequency against federal judges. In 1804, Supreme Court
Justice Samuel Chase was impeached on purely political grounds, but his acquittal (1805) effectively halted the use
of impeachment to remove judges for political reasons. It has often been said that the cumbersome and time-
consuming process of impeachment is unsuited to the removal of a merely venal judge. Nevertheless, because the
Constitution specifies that judges hold office during good behavior, impeachment remains the only means by which
a federal judge may be removed.
Certain questions concerning the impeachment process have persisted: whether it is judicial or political in nature;
how to define "high crimes and misdemeanors"; and whether a conviction can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Although no conclusive answer can be given, it is safe to say that the judicial process of impeachment will always be
infused with political motives; that the definition of "high crimes and misdemeanors" will never become entirely
precise; and that once the Senate has voted to convict by a two-thirds majority, the Supreme Court is unlikely to
take jurisdiction.
Bibliography: Berger, Raoul, Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems (1973); Black, Charles L., Impeachment: A
Handbook (1974; repr. 1998); Bushnell, Eleanore, Crimes, Follies, and Misfortunes: The Federal Impeachment Trials (1992); Gerhardt,
Michael J., The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis (1996); Hoffer, Peter C., and Hull, N.
E., Impeachment in America, 1635 to 1805 (1984); Labovitz, John R., Presidential Impeachment (1978); Posner, Richard A., An Affair
of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton (1999); Rehnquist, William H., Grand Inquests: The Historic
Impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson (1992; repr. 1993); Smith, Gene, High Crimes and
Misdemeanors: The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson (1976); White, T. H., Breach of Faith: The Fall of Richard Nixon (1975).
Introduction:
William Jefferson Clinton was one of three Presidents of the United States against whom impeachment proceedings were
instituted or threatened under Constitutional provisions for removing a President (or other high official, or judge). The
stories behind each case were different, but the sense of crisis each case brought to the nation was very similar.
While Donald Trump was on his foreign trip week, the support among voters for having Congress initiate an impeachment
against the president rose from 38 to 43 percent, as a recent poll by Politico and Morning Consult shows. Although not a
single president in the history of the United States has ever been forced out of office due to impeachment, more and more
people think that this could possibly happen during the course of Trump’s first term.

Objectives:
Students who participate in this project will:
1. Study the impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and William Clinton,
comparing and contrasting the individual cases, and deciding whether, in each case, the presidential
behavior rose to the level of "Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors."

2. Apply information from one text to another text to develop a persuasive argument “FOR” or “AGAINST”
impeachment for President Trump.

Procedures:

1. Review the document “An Overview of the Impeachment Process”.

2. Complete the worksheet “Presidential Impeachment”. Follow all directions. Due Monday April 30, 2018. 15pts.
3. Analyze, study and review the impeachment cases of:
President Andrew Johnson
President Richard Nixon
President William “Bill” Clinton
4. Compile/type a "brief" on each case (Johnson, Nixon, & Clinton) including (but not limited to) the following
elements: (The templet for a brief is on the class website.)
 Background of the case
 Societal factors at work in the case
 Important "actors" in the case: names and descriptions of roles
 Popular conceptions of the case
 Political dimensions of the case
 Resolution of the case

including its conclusions about whether or not impeachment proceedings had been justified. Print your brief
and turn-in. Due Monday, May 7, 2018. 25pts.

5. Read the following news articles about President Trump.

Who Would the Founders Impeach?
Can Donald Trump Be Impeached?
How easy is it for Donald Trump to be impeached?
Forget About Impeaching Trump
Commentary: Impeachment might not be the wisest course
6. Research three(3) other news articles about President Trump and his possible impeachment.
7. Type a nine(9) paragraph persuasive argument essay “FOR” or “AGAINST” impeachment of President Trump.
Upload you essay to Assignment on the class website. Make sure to cite your text that you use and include a
cite information page. Due Monday, April 14, 2018. 60pts.