Impeachment is the first of several steps required to remove a government official from office.
The impeachment process has been used very rarely in the United States—at either the federal or state level—and even less so in Britain, where the legal concept was first created and used.
Nonetheless, impeaching a sitting president or government official is hardly new, and has happened several times in U.S. history.
After much debate among the attendees at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia—among them George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin and other “Founding Fathers”—the concept behind the impeachment of government officials was approved.
Adapted from British law, the impeachment process was included in Article 2, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.
Some framers of the Constitution were opposed to the impeachment clause, because having the legislative branch sit in judgment over the executive branch might compromise the separation of powers they sought to establish between the three branches of the federal government,—executive, legislative and judicial.
However, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, who would later serve in the House of Representatives and as Vice President under James Madison, noted, “A good magistrate will not fear [impeachments]. A bad one ought to be kept in fear of them.”
Impeachment Process
The process involved in the impeachment of the President of the United States, or any elected official at the federal level, involves both houses of Congress, each serving different functions.
Specifically, Article 2, Section 4 states that the “President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
It’s important to note that impeachment doesn’t refer to the removal of an elected official from office, but rather the initial step in removing that official.
The process includes the review and filing of formal charges, which at the federal level is performed by the U.S. House of Representatives, and the resulting trial, which is conducted by the U.S. Senate.
I will say that again. Think of an impeachment as an indictment. The House reviews the evidence and determines whether or not the charges are valid and should be brought to trial. If the charges have merit, the house impeaches the president and it is the Senate that then holds a trial to determine if the official should be removed from office.
So, a president can be impeached by the House (there is enough evidence for a trial), but may win at the trial in the Senate, and therefore remain in office.
In the House of Representatives, an individual representative can initiate impeachment by introducing a bill, or the House can begin proceedings by passing a resolution.
A simple majority of votes is enough to pass any articles of impeachment on to the Senate for trial.
The Senate then acts as courtroom, jury and judge, except in presidential impeachment trials, during which the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court acts as judge.
A two-thirds majority of the Senate is required to convict, and the penalty is usually removal from office, and sometimes disqualification from holding any future offices.
So think about that folks. Look at recent events with Congress just trying to pass an immigration bill. Sure, Nancy Pelosi and her gang could probably get enough votes in the Democrat controlled House to impeach the President.
But does anyone out there really think that a Republican controlled Senate could gather the necessary 2/3 majority of votes to remove the President from office?
Impeached Presidents
In all, eight U.S. presidents have faced possible impeachment—with very different results.
John Tyler was the first. On January 10, 1843, Representative John M. Botts of Virginia proposed a resolution that would call for the formation of a committee to investigate charges of misconduct against Tyler for the purposes of possible impeachment.
Botts took issue with Tyler’s handling of the U.S. Treasury and what he described as the president’s “arbitrary, despotic, and corrupt abuse of veto power.” After a short debate, however, the House of Representatives voted down Botts’ resolution.
Andrew Johnson wasn’t so lucky. Johnson, who rose from vice president to president following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, was impeached in March, 1868, over his decision to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
Politics played a major role in this impeachment. Radical republicans felt that Johnson was obstructing the efforts of Congress to support freed slaves and rebuild the south the way they wanted it. They accused Johnson of being a supporter of the “Old South”, which he was.
Sect. Of War Stanton was commander of the northern occupying forces following the war and was carrying out the orders of Congress, not the President.
Congress argued that Stanton’s termination violated the Tenure of Office Act, which had been voted into law the year before and prohibited the President from removing officials confirmed by the Senate without the legislative body’s approval.
On May 26, 1868, the impeachment trial in the Senate ended with Johnson’s opponents failing to get sufficient votes (the Senate fell 1 vote short) to remove him from office, and he finished the rest of his term.
So Johnson was impeached, but not removed from office.
After Johnson, several U.S. presidents faced threats of impeachment, including Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush.
All of these former commanders-in-chief had articles of impeachment filed against them in the House of Representatives; however, none of them were actually impeached—meaning, those articles of impeachment failed to gather the necessary votes to move them to the Senate for a hearing.
President Richard M. Nixon faced impeachment over his involvement in the Watergate scandal and its fallout. In fact, the House of Representatives approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon, making him the second U.S. president (after Johnson) to face a potential hearing before the Senate.
However, Nixon resigned in 1974 before Congress could begin the proceedings.
More recently, President Bill Clinton was indeed impeached in 1998 over allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from a lawsuit filed against him relating to the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Although the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved two articles of impeachment against President Clinton, he was ultimately acquitted in the Senate trial the next year and finished his second four-year term in office in 2000.
As these cases indicate, impeachment is considered a power to be used only in extreme cases, and as such, it has rarely been used.
It’s also important to note that the power of Congress to impeach is not limited to the president or vice president. Indeed, throughout history, senators and federal judges have also been impeached.
For example, U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana was found guilty of corruption and perjury during impeachment hearings by the Senate in December, 2010, and was subsequently removed from office and barred from holding future office.
So there you have it folks. Key things to remember about impeachment.
First, an official can be impeached and still remain in office.
Second, key to the results is what party controls the House and Senate when the charges are filed.
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