The Impeachment Process: Removal From Office

The impeachment of President Clinton is something that will be remembered forever. Along with the fact that a presidential impeachment has only happened one other time since the Civil War, the publicity that came with the Clinton trial was extensive (Miller 2004). While the Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives had vastly different views on impeaching President Clinton, the fact that only five Democratic Representatives voted to impeach him truly shows how wide that gap was between the two parties. Clinton was impeached on the grounds of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice, with the vote on both articles extremely close, a 228-206 vote on perjury to a

The house of representatives has the authority to impeach both the president or vice president, if they unjust, or if he or she breaks a law of room

Firstly, he nominates all federal judges to the trial court, appeal court and Supreme Court. The appeal and Supreme court being the most important two. President George W. Bush made two appointments to the Supreme Court – John Roberts as chief justice in 2005, and Samuel Alito as an associate judge in 2006. By choosing justices whose judicial philosophy matches their own, presidents can hope to mould the outlook of the Court for many years after. It can be argued that the election of these should have been down to a rather more democratic public vote, as it will inevitably be the citizens who will be largely effected by the appointment of these judges. The second is the power of pardon. This is used in times of controversy. In 1974, President Ford pardoned his predecessor, President Nixon, for the crimes that he committed in the ‘Watergate affair’. On the last day of his presidency, President Clinton pardoned 140 people, including Mark Rich, who was a notorious tax fugitive. In contrast, President George W. Bush pardoned only 189 people in 8 years. This supports an effective government as it removes any members of Congress who may be corrupt and not doing their jobs properly.

Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and William had some things in common. One of those things was that they were all presidents, and the other thing is they all faced impeachment. They all had events leading up to a Congressional vote, the end result of each situation, and they either agreed or disagreed about reasons for their impeachment.

Appointment Power- The authority vested in the president to fill a government office or position. Positions filled by presidential appointment include those in the executive branch and

compromises both the act of formulating the accusation and the resulting trial of charges; it is

This gave him the dubious distinction of being the first elected U.S. President to be impeached.

The impeachment of President Andrew Johnson was the consequence of political clash and the crack of belief systems in the result of the American Civil War. It emerged from uncompromised convictions and a challenge for control in a country battling with reunification.

The requirements for Senators are an interesting point in the Constitution, and it surprises me that they remain identical to this day. Each senator serves for six years. It's interesting that each elected Senator serves for three times as long as a Representative and for two years more than the President, without re-election of course. Senators are required to be five years older than Representatives, but five years younger than the president, and they are also responsible for the Impeachment process.

In 1868, the U.S. Senate hears the impeachment charges against President Andrew Johnson. The trial, organized by the Senate in March, listening carefully on issues surrounding Johnson's post-Civil War Reconstruction policy and about his reasoning's as why he fired the Secretary of War. The Senate selected to find President Andrew Johnson as not guilty; by a vote of 35 guilty to 19 not guilty. (One ballot short needed to convict Johnson.) In a 1926 case, the Supreme Court stated that the Tenure of Office Act had been worthless.

With rumors of impeachment beginning to circulate, Nixon finally agreed to turn over the subpoenaed White House tapes. The committee listened to the recordings and discovered an 18-minute gap on one of the tapes. It was surmised that someone had erased part of the tape, but investigators were unable to determine exactly what had happened. In March 1974, seven former presidential aides were indicted on charges of conspiracy to hinder the Watergate investigation, and Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator. On July 24, the Supreme Court voted unanimously to order Nixon to release the rest of the White House recordings, considering them evidence in the case that came to be known as the United States v. Nixon.

Article II, Section IV of the United States Constitution 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.” Throughout the course of American history, past Presidents have committed actions that have brought up the discussion and even started the process of impeachment from holding office. In the chapter “Impeachment in the Constitutional Order” by Jeffery K. Tulis, he talks about the differences between the legalistic and political interpretations of impeachment and how to properly use the process in a successful manner. Tulis states “how and why the impeachment process, far from politically irrelevant, is a vital attribute of the theoretical architecture of a well- functioning separation of powers regime” (Tulis 229).

Throughout the history of the United States, the three branches of government had experienced their respective highs and lows. During creation of the United States Constitution, its authors had a preconceived notion that the legislative branch would end up being the more capable of the other two branches of government. All things considered, the legislative branch was a leading force for states amid the Revolutionary War and amid the Articles of Confederation years. The vast majority of the Bill of Rights starts with the expression "Congress shall make no law." That being said, like the sentiments during the Revolutionary Period and amid the Articles of

I am sad to inform you that an impeachment request has been filed against you. Under Article XI of the Wiley College Constitution section 1 the Dereliction of duty which shall be defined as any act or acts, failure or failures to act by an officer of the Student Government Association which may be considered inimical to the authority, purpose or prestige of the Student Government Association as defined in this constitution may constitute grounds for initiation of impeachment

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth” (Abraham Lincoln). The powers of impeachment are exclusive to the legislatives. Many are opposed to this idea of politicians being able to trump the votes of the people for who is and who isn't in power. Dilma’s trial made clear to me that the separation of powers in Brazil and for that matter the rest of the world are never going to be perfect as Hobbes is right, people are at the mercy of their rulers selfishness, it’s human nature. Temer and Cunha wanted the top job as Brazilian president and vice-president because they are personally invested (realists). Therefore the coup isn't a fragment of Rousseff’s imagination or a piece of fiction. It’s got