That is to say, if we are going to give anyone leeway to act above the law, the last person it should be is the person to whom we have entrusted the greatest power.
To the extent that I've looked at the discussions of impeachment at the Constitutional Convention and the states' ratifying conventions and in later remarks of the founders, one thing becomes clear:
They considered impeachment of the utmost importance. They had risked their lives in a bloody struggle to overthrow a king. The last thing they wanted was a new one. And the fact that any new king might be voted out after four years did not alter their insistence that what they called "an elected despot" be subject to premature removal. Jefferson in particular, but others as well, expected and hoped that impeachment would be used at least once a generation. They did not believe that the threat of it would be sufficient to hold presidents or justices in check without its routine use.
To the extent that I've looked at the history of impeachment in this country (and I rely above all on John Nichol's book "The Genius of Impeachment"), a few things become clear:
1. Impeachments and movements in Congress toward impeachment have in fact been much more common than many people realize.
2. Impeachments tend to be very popular with the public, and congress members who impeach tend to be viewed as standing up for the Constitution.
3. Impeachment movements that fall short of actual impeachment in the House or of removal from office following a trial in the Senate have served nonetheless to substantially restore the rule of law.
Let me give you a few examples to illustrate each of those three statements.
How common is impeachment?
The U.S. House of Representatives has initiated impeachments 62 times and impeached 17 people, including 13 federal judges, one supreme court justice, one secretary of war, one U.S. senator, and two presidents. Of the 17, seven were convicted in the Senate. Articles of Impeachment have been filed against 10 presidents: Tyler, Johnson, Cleveland, Hoover, Truman, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush. Two were impeached and acquitted. One resigned, as did the secretary of war. If the Elliot Spitzer scandal on top of the Bill Clinton impeachment gave you the idea that threats of impeachment are only for Democrats and only for sex, you were not completely off. More impeachments have been filed by Republicans and Whigs than by Democrats.
Republicans moved to impeach Republican Herbert Hoover and Democrat Harry Truman. Truman's abuses of power were very quickly reined in by the Supreme Court, and the impeachment was dropped, but the Republicans looked good and won the next elections. Democrats led the effort to impeach Richard Nixon, but Republicans joined in, backed impeachment, and persuaded Nixon to resign. Gerald Ford stepped in and ran as an incumbent but lost, and the Democrats in Congress won the biggest victories in Congress anyone remembers.
How popular is impeachment?
In contrast to the post-Nixon elections, when the Democratic leadership chose not to impeach Ronald Reagan, arguing that it was more important to win elections, they proceeded to lose the elections. When the Republicans impeached and tried Bill Clinton against the will of a huge majority of the public, they held both houses of Congress and took the White House, losing a few seats in the Senate which had acquitted. Some of the impeachment leaders won with bigger margins than they had before, and Al Gore was put on the defensive to such an extent that he chose impeachment-advocate Joe Lieberman as a running mate and pretended he'd never met Bill Clinton.
After the Whigs attempted to impeach Tyler, they picked up seven seats, and Tyler left politics.
Weeks after he lobbied for Johnson's impeachment, Grant was nominated for President.
After pushing toward impeachment for Polk, Lincoln was elected president.
To the extent that I've looked at the discussions of impeachment at the Constitutional Convention and the states' ratifying conventions and in later remarks of the founders, one thing becomes clear:
They considered impeachment of the utmost importance. They had risked their lives in a bloody struggle to overthrow a king. The last thing they wanted was a new one. And the fact that any new king might be voted out after four years did not alter their insistence that what they called "an elected despot" be subject to premature removal. Jefferson in particular, but others as well, expected and hoped that impeachment would be used at least once a generation. They did not believe that the threat of it would be sufficient to hold presidents or justices in check without its routine use.
To the extent that I've looked at the history of impeachment in this country (and I rely above all on John Nichol's book "The Genius of Impeachment"), a few things become clear:
2. Impeachments tend to be very popular with the public, and congress members who impeach tend to be viewed as standing up for the Constitution.
3. Impeachment movements that fall short of actual impeachment in the House or of removal from office following a trial in the Senate have served nonetheless to substantially restore the rule of law.
Let me give you a few examples to illustrate each of those three statements.
How common is impeachment?
The U.S. House of Representatives has initiated impeachments 62 times and impeached 17 people, including 13 federal judges, one supreme court justice, one secretary of war, one U.S. senator, and two presidents. Of the 17, seven were convicted in the Senate. Articles of Impeachment have been filed against 10 presidents: Tyler, Johnson, Cleveland, Hoover, Truman, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush. Two were impeached and acquitted. One resigned, as did the secretary of war. If the Elliot Spitzer scandal on top of the Bill Clinton impeachment gave you the idea that threats of impeachment are only for Democrats and only for sex, you were not completely off. More impeachments have been filed by Republicans and Whigs than by Democrats.
Republicans moved to impeach Republican Herbert Hoover and Democrat Harry Truman. Truman's abuses of power were very quickly reined in by the Supreme Court, and the impeachment was dropped, but the Republicans looked good and won the next elections. Democrats led the effort to impeach Richard Nixon, but Republicans joined in, backed impeachment, and persuaded Nixon to resign. Gerald Ford stepped in and ran as an incumbent but lost, and the Democrats in Congress won the biggest victories in Congress anyone remembers.
How popular is impeachment?
In contrast to the post-Nixon elections, when the Democratic leadership chose not to impeach Ronald Reagan, arguing that it was more important to win elections, they proceeded to lose the elections. When the Republicans impeached and tried Bill Clinton against the will of a huge majority of the public, they held both houses of Congress and took the White House, losing a few seats in the Senate which had acquitted. Some of the impeachment leaders won with bigger margins than they had before, and Al Gore was put on the defensive to such an extent that he chose impeachment-advocate Joe Lieberman as a running mate and pretended he'd never met Bill Clinton.
After the Whigs attempted to impeach Tyler, they picked up seven seats, and Tyler left politics.
Weeks after he lobbied for Johnson's impeachment, Grant was nominated for President.
After pushing toward impeachment for Polk, Lincoln was elected president.
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