The impeachment trial of Bill Clinton (1999)
What is impeachment?
Impeachment is the act of charging a public officeholder with misconduct, such as treason or bribery. Presidents aren't the only ones that can be impeached, even though we hear about presidents' impeachments the most; all civil officers are able to become impeached.
How does impeachment work?
The House of Representatives and the Senate are the two main bodies that oversee and enact impeachments. Once an officer has been accused of misconduct, the impeachment process goes first into the House of Representatives. The House decides whether or not to impeach the official. If they are impeached, it does not necessarily mean the officer is out of office–the impeachment process then goes to the Senate, which serves as the court of the impeachment trial. There, if an officer is convicted and fully impeached, he or she is then removed from office and is disqualified from holding future office. Afterward, other civil courts may charge the former officer with fines and potential jail time.
When has impeachment been used in the U.S.?
In the history of the U.S., only sixteen officers have been impeached; that is, their crimes were acknowledged by the House, but not all of them were convicted by the Senate. Some of the more famous officers impeached include President Andrew Johnson (who was later acquitted, or did not get evicted from office) for violating the Tenure of Office Act, Secretary of State William W. Belknap (acquitted after his resignation) for graft/corruption, and Bill Clinton (acquitted) for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Hope this provides some clarification about the process of impeachment!
Sources:
http://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Impeachment/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States#Federal_officials_impeached
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Senate_in_session.jpg
Good job in going into depth about a very important topic in American Legislation. I like how you defined the topic, as well as explained impeachment and how it works. Since America was founded on the basis of new ideas and forms of governments, it makes me wonder how impeachment works in foreign countries.
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