An impeachment is written in the Constitution and is a formal document charging a public official, specifically the President, Vice President and all civil Officers, with misconduct while in office. It is a formal process where an official is accused of unlawful activity, including Treason, Bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors (Linder, 1999). It includes removal of officials from office.
Throughout history, there have been two impeachment cases in the United States, involving President Andrew Johnson and President Bill Clinton. The following paper will discuss their impeachments and trials, along with ethical dilemmas in their cases. It will also discuss the almost impeachment of Richard Nixon and his resignation to avoid impeachment and conviction, along with ethical dilemmas in his case. Lastly, it will include a personal input of these cases.
Andrew Johnson served as the 17th President of the United States. The Presidential term he served was 1865-1869. Prior to his term, Abraham Lincoln served as President. Abraham Lincoln had a plan of reconstruction prior to his assassination. When Andrew Johnson was in office, he planned on carrying out Lincoln’s proposal. The policy was not very popular, particularly for the so-called Radical Republicans in congress, however. Neither Andrew Johnson nor the Republicans were willing to compromise, therefore, there were issues. This lead to Johnson breaching the Tenure of Office Act by removing Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, from the cabinet. “Both Lincoln and Johnson had experienced problems with Stanton, an ally of the Radicals in Congress. Stanton's removal, therefore, was not only a political decision made to relieve the discord between the President and his cabinet, but a t...
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...sident?
I think criminal proceedings could be appropriate in these cases. I think the Nixon case should definitely have criminal proceedings, because all of the illegal acts that he did. I think there should be criminal proceedings for Clinton lying under oath. I also think it could be argued that Johnson should have had criminal proceedings, because he violated a federal law.
Although impeachment proceedings are executed in the same way, these cases had some differences and similarities. Johnson stayed in office after his impeachment trial, Nixon left office before he could be impeached, and Clinton was actually impeached and removed from office. Each case had ethical dilemmas, illegal activity, and political motivation behind the impeachments. These cases raise ethical questions and arguments, especially about the standards of the President of the United States.
After Lincoln’s death in 1865, Andrew Johnson turned Reconstruction on its head. He made several changes to the Reconstruction policy, nearly cutting Congress off completely from the process. Johnson began putting white supremacists in power of the Reconstruction governments. This began a chain of events that led to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and the end of the biracial democracy in the south. Johnson put pro-Union Southern political leaders into power, even though many had aided the Confederacy during the war. These men, with Johnson's support, attempted ...
Andrew Johnson took office shortly after the Civil War. He was the 17th president of the United States. Throughout Johnson’s presidency his power and influence steadily declined. Two things that really made people upset were Johnson’s veto on the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill and his veto on the Civil Rights Bill. Both bills
The recent scandal in the White House has brought my attention to the American Presidents as people and Presidents. Looking into the American history and her presidents I have found out that presidents are not just political figures but that they are also people. In my research I will compare and contrast two of the American presidents - Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.
1. On March 1, 1974 a grand jury returned an indictment charging seven of President Nixon's close aides with various offenses, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and to obstruct justice having to do with the Watergate Affair.
After the Civil War ended in 1865, it was followed by an era known as Reconstruction that lasted until 1877, with the goal to rebuild the nation. Lincoln was the president at the beginning of this era, until his assassination caused his vice president, Andrew Johnson to take his place in 1865. Johnson was faced with numerous issues such as the reunification of the union and the unknown status of the ex-slaves, while compromising between the principles of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. After the Election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant, a former war hero with no political experience, became the nation’s new president, but was involved in numerous acts of corruption. Reconstruction successfully reintegrated the southern states into the Union through Lincoln and Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans, but was mostly a failure due to the continued discriminatory policies against African Americans, such as the Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and sharecropping, as well as the widespread corruption of the elite in the North and the Panic of 1873,
Following Lincoln’s tragic assassination, President Andrew Johnson took on the accountability of making Reconstruction a reality. Andrew Johnson wanted to use Lincoln’s ideas of reconstruction but in a modified form. Since Congress would be in recess for eight more months Johnson decided to go ahead with his plan. Johnson's goal in reconstruction was to grant amnesty to all former Confederates (except high officials), the ordinances of secession were to be revoked, Confederate debts would repudiate, and the states had to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. Once the states swore to a loyalty oath to abide by the conditions they would be allowed to return to the Union. After swearing to the oath Confederate States would be allowed to govern themselves. With this power the states implemented the creation of a system of black codes that restricted the actions of freed slaves in much the same way, if not exactly the same way, that slaves were restricted under the old law. The end result of his plan was a hopeless conflict with the Radical Republicans who dominated Congress, passed measures over Johnson's vetoes, and attempted to limit the power of the executive concerning appointments and removals.
When congress reconvened in December of 1865, they refused to accept the delegations from southern states. The radical republicans in congress designed a serious of acts known as the reconstruction acts to implement their program in the south. These acts included the Freedman’s Bureau that helped the free slaves adjust to a free society. Also, the Civil Rights Act, which guaranteed blacks both the right to vote and the right to hold property. President Johnson vetoed all the reconstruction acts of congress and congress under the domination of the radical republicans overrode his vetoes. This gridlock between the presidential power and congressional power set the stage for an impeachment in 1868.
On August 17, 1998, exactly one year after making the statement above, President Bill Clinton prepared to deliver a speech concerning a scandal that had gripped the nation for months. It is needless to say that this was an important moment during the Clinton administration. After accusations of sexual harassment, Clinton addressed the nation and admitted to having a relationship with Monica Lewinsky. In this critical speech Clinton set out to admit to wrong-doings, provide a few reasons for his action, and ultimately persuade the audience into moving on and forgetting the scandal. This essay will break down his speech into sections and examine the most and least effective strategies that Clinton employed and how well he executed those strategies. This is an interesting speech given under rare circumstances. Not since Watergate had an American president been under such harsh moral criticism from the public. By looking critically at this speech we are able to gain valuable insight into Clinton's motives.
...ights for African Americans as well as a political rights for the people, his goal was to abolish slavery and felt that “all men created equally” should uphold for everybody, everybody that was man at least. Johnson the president, in the beginning proved to be loyal to his radicals by chastising the confederacy making sure there would be repercussions for their actions. Also his amnesty plan to reinstate the south states was far harsher than that of Lincoln's. Johnson’s sanctions deprived confederacy officers, people in high power, and anyone who owned valuable assets could be subject to confiscation. The purpose was to shift political power in south and reward it to freed blacks and white southerners who stayed neutral during the war. Hahn states in his article that, “During reconstruction, black men held political offices in every state of the former confederacy”
United States of America is a country that has justice and a large legal system. People, who are the citizens of the U.S., are not able to be above the law no matter how successful they are. The Preamble states that the government is to “ secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” (U.S. Constitution 1) The Preamble represents Americans' desire to have a perfect union for themselves under the control of the law. Unfortunately, there are some people that do not conform to the law. For example, in 1972, President Nixon had been involved in the Watergate Scandal. This case is known as United States v. Nixon. President Nixon resigned his job after the Supreme Court made their judgment. This case proves that the equality of American judicial system is fair for everyone. The case of United States v. Nixon is so important because it proves that every U.S. citizens is equal before the law, and nobody is above the law, including the U.S. president.
President Richard Nixon’s speech has changed American history. President Nixon was the first President to resign, and President Nixon not only resigned for his pride, but also for the pride of the Nation. Had President Nixon remained in office, it would have taken millions of tax dollars, for the impeachment process, which is not a short process, leaving the American’s with an ineffective President during the trials. Critics say "Then everyone's going to remember again, they're going to remember the humiliation that this country went through, the national disgrace, and they'll get it all straight again," in response to America mourning President Nixon’s death. No matter what the critics say, President Nixon resigned to better America, and provide the country with a more suitable leader.
As President, Johnson decided to follow Lincolns plans by granting amnesty to almost all former confederates; establishing a Provisional government; and ratifying the thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery. However, Johnson was not the same man as Lincoln for he was quite unpopular, especially with Congress. As the south was in a transitional period, its politics were changing as well. First, the Reconstruction Act allowed blacks to v...
Despite the national attention the Watergate scandal had gained President Nixon, he won the second term presidency. The major problem for Nixon would come later. The investigations of the Watergate scandal lead to the discovery of other criminal acts by officials including Nixon. During the investigation many things begin to surface. It was discovered that documents had been destroyed that may have made a link between Nixon and the Watergate scandal. These documents may have shown that he had some acknowledgement in what had happened. There was evidence that people involved in the Nixon campaign had been wire tapping phones illegally for a long time according to “dummies.com”. The greatest issue would come to light during the 1973 Watergate hearings. During testimonies it came to light that every conversation was recorded in the Oval office according to “study.com”. It was demanded that these tapes be reviewed to learn how much involvement President Nixon had in the Watergate burglary. The President felt that he had the right to withhold these tapes through what he referred to as executive privilege. This means that if it is the best interest of the public the president has the right to keep information from the
Only three times in the 226 year history of the office of the President of the United States has the idea of impeachment reared its head. Only twice has a president been impeached, and only one president has been driven out of office due to possible high crimes and misdemeanors. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton both were impeached by the House of Representatives, and faced trial in the Senate. Both presidents were acquitted of their supposed transgressions, and were allowed to remain in office. Richard Nixon, despite never experiencing impeachment, vacated his office due to increasing pressure to resign and spare the Senate from going through the process due to his obvious guilt. Nixon was actually in violation of his duties as President, but Clinton and Johnson were impeached by political rivals. Nixon’s actions were considered in such grave violation of the Constitution, that he did not keep his office, whereas Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton stayed.
The stage was set for a partisan fight that would ultimately center around a single act. In February 1868, Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who was sympathetic to the Radical Republicans and who was overseeing the military’s Reconstruction efforts. A year earlier, Congress had passed the Tenure of Office Act, which prohibited a president from dismissing any officer confirmed by the Senate without first getting its approval. With Stanton’s firing, the call for Johnson’s impeachment began.