ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT
Formal written allegations of the causes that warrant the criminal trial of a public official before a quasi-political court.
In cases of IMPEACHMENT, involving the president, vice president, or other federal officers, the House of Representatives prepares the articles of impeachment, since it is endowed with the “sole Power of Impeachment,” under Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 of the Constitution.
The articles are sent to the Senate, which has the exclusive power to “try all Impeachments” by virtue of Article I, Section 3, Clause 6.
The use of articles of impeachment against
state officials is governed by state constitutions
and statutes.
Articles of impeachment are analogous to an
indictment that initiates criminal prosecutions
of private persons.
Articles of Impeachment and the
U.S. Presidency
Articles of impeachment have been drafted
against three U.S presidents, ANDREW JOHNSON,
RICHARD M. NIXON, and WILLIAM JEFFERSON
CLINTON. Nixon resigned before the full House
could vote to approve the articles of impeach-
ment prepared by the judiciary committee,
while Johnson and Clinton were both acquitted
during Senate trials that were bitterly divided
along party lines.
On February 24, 1868, the U.S House of
Representatives voted to impeach President
Andrew Johnson. A week later the House
approved 11 articles of impeachment, accusing
the president of OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE,
thwarting duly enacted federal laws, improvi-
dently removing military governors from the
southern states, and attempting to bring into
disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and
reproach the CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Most historians consider all of the charges
against Johnson to have been politically moti-
vated, as the House of Representatives was con-
trolled by radical Republicans who favored
Reconstruction Era legislation that Johnson
opposed.
In August 1867, Johnson tried to remove the
last staunch Reconstructionist from his cabinet
by dismissing Secretary of War EDWIN STANTON
and replacing him with General ULYSSES S.
GRANT. The Senate refused to approve the dis-
missal, so Johnson replaced Stanton with
another general. One article of impeachment
charged that Stanton’s dismissal violated the
TENURE OF OFFICE ACT, which prohibited the
president from dismissing cabinet members
without the Senate’s approval.
Johnson’s trial in the Senate commenced
March 13, 1868, and lasted until May 26, 1868.
Supreme Court Justice SALMON CHASE presided.
The Senate consisted of 45 Republicans and only
nine Democrats. Thirty-six votes were required
for conviction, so a party-line vote would easily
have removed Johnson. After voting on the first
three articles of impeachment and failing to
convict by a single vote on each of them (7
Republicans sided with 12 Democrats), the Sen-
ate adjourned without considering the other
eight articles.
On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Com-
mittee approved three articles of impeachment
against President Richard M. Nixon. The articles
charged the president with obstruction of justice
in trying to cover up the BURGLARY of DEMOC-
RATIC PARTY offices at the WATERGATE complex
in Washington, D.C., abuse of power for order-
ing the INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (IRS) to
audit the taxes of political adversaries, and
refusal to obey a subpoena from the Judiciary
Committee. A week later Nixon complied with a
Supreme Court order compelling him to release
the transcripts of three tape-recorded conversa-
tions of June 23, 1972, which demonstrated his
involvement in, and knowledge of, the Watergate
cover-up.
For example, the transcript of June 23, 1972,
tape showed H. R. Haldeman, White House
Chief of Staff, telling Nixon that campaign
money had financed the Watergate burglary and
Nixon telling Haldeman to use the CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA) to curb a FED-
ERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) investi-
gation of the money trail. This transcript was
widely referred to as the “the smoking gun” tape
because some Republicans had said they would
not support impeachment until they found evi-
dence of Nixon holding a “smoking gun” of guilt
in his hand. With the public turning against
Nixon and his approval rating hovering around
twenty-five percent, Republican congressional
leaders and some of the president’s own aides
put him under enormous pressure to resign.
Three days after the tapes were released to the
public, on August 8, 1974, President Nixon
resigned. Nixon’s resignation ended the
impeachment inquiry, and following his resig-
nation, President GERALD FORD pardoned
Nixon for all crimes he may have committed as
the nation’s chief executive.
On December 19, 1998, the U.S. House of
Representatives approved two articles of
impeachment against Democratic president
Clinton, accusing the president of having com-
mitted the crimes of perjury and obstruction of
justice to conceal his relationship with former
White-House intern Monica Lewinsky. The
impeachment trial before the Senate began on
January 7, 1999, and ended on February 12,
1999. Chief Justice WILLIAM REHNQUIST
presided.
Like the impeachment trial of Andrew John-
son, the Clinton impeachment trial was also bit-
terly divided along party lines. The Senate was
comprised of 55 Republicans and 45 Democrats.
However, several moderate Republicans pri-
vately questioned the propriety of impeaching a
president whose job-approval ratings were at
approximately 70 percent during a period when
the STOCK MARKET was experiencing strong
growth. Enough Republicans eventually joined
all 45 Democrats in voting to acquit the presi-
dent on both articles of impeachment, neither
article being supported by even a majority of
votes, far short of the 67 votes required to convict.
FURTHER READINGS
Collier, Charles W., and Christopher Slobogin. 1999. “Terms
of Endearment and Articles of Impeachment.” Florida
Law Review 51 (September).
Henshaw, Jaime L. 2001. “Falling Out of Love with America:
The Clinton Impeachment and the Madisonian Constitution.”
Maryland Law Review 60 (winter).
CROSS-REFERENCES
Chase, Samuel, “The Samuel Chase Impeachment Trial”
(Sidebar); Impeachment,“How Will the Trial of Bill Clinton
Affect Future Impeachments?” (In Focus); Impeachment, “A
Challenge to Impeachment” (Sidebar).
