What does impeachment mean?
The term has its roots in England, where it was “a device for prosecuting great lords and high officials who were beyond the reach of the law courts.” The writers of the US Constitution tweaked that word, taking it to mean a process by which Congress could remove a sitting president from power.
The process is threefold. First, the House of Representatives will take up the issue, in which a simple majority has to approve the motion for impeachment.
The action then moves to the Senate, where a trial is held, with the Supreme Court chief justice presiding over it. The House of Representatives will act as the prosecution and the president’s own lawyers as the defence. The chief justice is mostly responsible for procedural rulings — his or her decisions can be overruled by the Senate.
Interestingly, the president does not need to be present for these proceedings.
Finally, after the trial, the Senate needs a two-third majority to convict the president — an extremely difficulty majority in an even slightly divided House.
What are the “crimes” that the president be impeached for?
There are mainly two arguments to impeach a president: treason and bribery. However, the writers of the Constitution tacked on a third argument — “high crimes” and misdemeanours — which former US president Gerard Ford noted was “whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history”
Who has been impeached?
Only two presidents have been impeached — Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
Andrew Johnson took over after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, but was said to be sympathetic towards the Deep South in the reconstruction following the US civil war — something Republican senators were less than happy about.
Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 after he attempted to replace his secretary of war, but was acquitted after the Senate fell short of a two-third majority by just a single vote
Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice after it emerged that he lied under oath to prevent his affair with Monica Lewinsky from being known. However, the Senate acquitted him fairly quickly, not viewing the charges against him as being serious enough to warrant his removal from office.
Another president, Richard Nixon, was headed toward seemingly certain impeachment in 1974 over the Watergate scandal, and his crimes were serious enough to warrant his removal. However, he pre-emptively resigned.
The term has its roots in England, where it was “a device for prosecuting great lords and high officials who were beyond the reach of the law courts.” The writers of the US Constitution tweaked that word, taking it to mean a process by which Congress could remove a sitting president from power.
The process is threefold. First, the House of Representatives will take up the issue, in which a simple majority has to approve the motion for impeachment.
The action then moves to the Senate, where a trial is held, with the Supreme Court chief justice presiding over it. The House of Representatives will act as the prosecution and the president’s own lawyers as the defence. The chief justice is mostly responsible for procedural rulings — his or her decisions can be overruled by the Senate.
Interestingly, the president does not need to be present for these proceedings.
Finally, after the trial, the Senate needs a two-third majority to convict the president — an extremely difficulty majority in an even slightly divided House.
What are the “crimes” that the president be impeached for?
There are mainly two arguments to impeach a president: treason and bribery. However, the writers of the Constitution tacked on a third argument — “high crimes” and misdemeanours — which former US president Gerard Ford noted was “whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history”
Who has been impeached?
Only two presidents have been impeached — Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
Andrew Johnson took over after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, but was said to be sympathetic towards the Deep South in the reconstruction following the US civil war — something Republican senators were less than happy about.
Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 after he attempted to replace his secretary of war, but was acquitted after the Senate fell short of a two-third majority by just a single vote
Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice after it emerged that he lied under oath to prevent his affair with Monica Lewinsky from being known. However, the Senate acquitted him fairly quickly, not viewing the charges against him as being serious enough to warrant his removal from office.
Another president, Richard Nixon, was headed toward seemingly certain impeachment in 1974 over the Watergate scandal, and his crimes were serious enough to warrant his removal. However, he pre-emptively resigned.
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