"The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush"How to Impeach | Constitution | High Crimes | Cities and States | Grounds | Treaties | Articles of Impeachment | Process | History | Rules |
Past Impeachments
Impeachment of a President is a rare event. Only two Presidents, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, have been impeached and none have been removed from office as a result. Articles of Impeachment for Richard Nixon were drawn up but Nixon resigned before he could be impeached. Congress started to impeach John Tyler over State's Rights issues but the measure failed.
Andrew Johnson
After the Civil War, Johnson and Congress repeatedly butted heads over the rights of freed slaves. Johnson vetoed several bills intended to expand the rights of the former slaves. Johnson then dismissed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. This prompted Congress to to impeach Johnson.
There were eleven Article of Impeachment filed against Andrew Johnson. The first nine related to firing Stanton and replacing him with Lorenzo Thomas. Congress claimed this violated the Tenure of Office Act, which forbade the president from removing certain officeholders without the approval of the Senate. Johnson was impeached for this but found not guilty because Stanton had been appointed by Lincoln and the Tenure Act did not protect officeholders held over from a previous term.
The tenth included the charge that Johnson did "make and declare, with a loud voice certain intemperate, inflammatory, and scandalous harangues, and therein utter loud threats and bitter menaces, as well against Congress as the laws of the United States duly enacted thereby, amid the cries, jeers and laughter of the multitudes then assembled in hearing". Recall that Bush and Cheney repeatedly tried to imply that Congresspersons opposied to his policies were unpatriotic and aiding terrorists.
The eleventh accused Johnson of claimiing "that the legislation of said Congress was valid or obligatory upon him, the said Andrew Johnson, except in so far as he saw fit to approve the same". This is similar to the excessive use of signing statements by George Bush to nullify the laws passed by Congress.
Articles of Impeachment for Andrew Johnson
Richard Nixon
Nixon was not actually impeached. But the Judiciary Committee approved Articles of Impeachment and sent them to the House for a floor vote. Nixon then resigned rather than face an actual impeachment and trial.
Articles of Impeachment for Richard Nixon
William Clinton
When Clinton was testifying in a sexual harassment lawsuit by Paula Jones he stated that did not have "sex" with Monica Lewinsky. When he later revealed that he had oral sex with her, the Republicans impeached him for perjury. Clinton was eventually acquitted when it was found that his crimes did not rise to the level of "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and that the term "sexual relations" as used by Clinton only referred to intercourse and did not include oral sex.
Articles of Impeachment for William Clinton
So we have two Presidents impeached: one for firing someone and another for lying about sex. Now we have President Bush who lied to Congress about the justification for war and invaded a sovereign country causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of America troops, tortured prisoners and illegally wiretapped American citizens in direct defiance of the mandated legal process.
The crimes of Bush are far more heinous than the crimes of Johnson and Clinton. If Johnson and Clinton can be impeached for what they did, then surely Bush can be impeached for the horrible crimes he has committed.
Resources
- Trial Memorandum of President William Jefferson Clinton
- Groliers History of Impeachment
- '“High Crimes and Misdemeanors:” A Short History of Impeachment' on infoplease.com
- "It's time to bring out the 100-ton gun Presidents, senators, judges all impeached for lesser crimes than George W. Bush." , by Daniel H. Pollitt, MAY 10, 2006 - summary of many impeachments.
