Supreme Court Case Study

1-Within the following cases, were any of the actions grounds for impeachment?
To my knowledge the Constitution sets specific grounds for impeachment. They are “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.” In this article I think that the George W Bush appointed treasurer busted for tax evasion was a reason for impeachment. The treasurer had a long term friendship with the President and was found to have failed to disclose and pay taxes on a substantial amount of income and of lying to investigators and destroying evidence. She was pledge guilty, and as the President tried to exclude himself from the scandal, it is difficult to believe that he had nothing to do with this. I also believe that affairs, illegitimate child and adultery,
are reasons to have ground for impeachment. This is why I choose the Cleveland illegitimate child case, and the Bill Clinton affair with Monica Lewinsky.
2-Choose three presidents from the following articles which exhibited the worst abuse of power. Explain why you selected them. One of the worse presidents who abused power were, Kennedy, Nixon and Harding. I chose Kennedy because of the Bay of Pigs scandal. To me he practically lied to the American people telling them that there wasn’t going to be any intervention by the armed forces in Cuba. However, there was an intervention planned which resulted in a failure. It was discovered that the U.S had been involved in it, with Kennedy facing accusations of being incompetent and a liar. My next pick was Richard Nixon because of his Watergate scandal. This scandal clearly showed the abuse of power from the Presidents administration, when the Pentagon papers were leaked. Also with his involvement in the cover up of the five man breaking in the Democratic National Committee headquarters, he leaves us no doubt that he was one of the worst Presidents in the United States history. My last pick is President Harding with his Teapot Dome scandals. I chose this last one because it was known that he leased petroleum reserves to private oil companies at exceedingly low rates in exchange for a huge amount in kickbacks and bribes.
3- Choose three presidents from the following articles whose offenses were the least objectionable. Explain why you selected them.
For this question I chose President Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland.
President Jefferson offense was least objectionable because they were just rumors that he had several children with his black slave. Even though this was proved to be truth later in 1998, it still wasn’t proved at the time he was alive. My second pick is President Jackson because the scandal he was involved in wasn’t even about him at all. It had to do with his secretary of war who had married a widowed right after her husband’s passing, and in my opinion he was not guilty of anything. My last pick is President Cleveland’s illegitimate child. I pick this one as my third because I compared the other Presidents in the article and they had done worst things than having a child with someone that is not your wife.

4-What were the accusations made against Grover Cleveland and James Blaine?
During the 1884 election between candidates Grover Cleveland and James G Blaine, a lot of controversy along with accusations went on. Blaine was accused of using his position in Congress to pass legislation for his own financial gain. Cleveland on the other hand, was exposed as being the father of an illegitimate son.
5-What happened in the election of 1876?
The election of 1876 was considered the dirtiest election of all time. The two major candidates running for President were Rutherford B. Hayes and his democrat rival, Samuel Tilden. Tilden had the majority of votes, but from Hayes staff it was believed that he could still win if Republicans retained control of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. It was then when he telegraphed to the Republicans in those three states telling them to hold their state. All three states were awarded to Hayes who had beaten Tilden, making him the new President for the next four years. After that it was always claimed that Hayes was elected because of the fraud committed during that election.
6-What misbehavior did Warren G. Harding
commit?
After reading the part in the article that talks about Warren G. Harding, I believe his misbehavior was adultery. It was said that he had a young mistress who was living in Chicago with an illegitimate daughter, and also was romantically involved with his best friend’s wife. He was known for having sex with many woman, including in the Oval office.
7-Name a candidate who spread lies about his opponent.
The President that spread rumors about another according to the article was Richard Nixon.
8-Should presidents be held to a higher standard?
In my opinion, I believe that Presidents should be held at a higher standard. This doesn’t mean that they are better than any of us, but they have a higher responsibility, and should be treated as above. For me, a President is like royalty, like a King. Now does that mean that they are perfect, and don’t make mistakes? Absolutely not. Presidents, either better or worse, have political knowledge and are the ones guiding us to survive in this world.
9-Name three things that John Edwards was accused of doing.
One of the three things that John Edwards was accused of doing was, a sex scandal that unfolded while his wife was dying of cancer. He was also guilty of accepting illegal campaign contributions from elderly heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon. Lastly, he had also accepted donations from wealthy Texas attorney Fred Baron, filing a false campaign finance report and conspiracy.
10-What happened in late
2010?
In late 2010, Elizabeth Edwards, John’s wife had died.
11-Who was Rielle Hunter?
Rielle Hunter was John Edwards mistress.
12-Who were the people that covered up John Edwards actions?
Fred Baron, and the Youngs helped cover up Edwards actions. Baron was not only providing money for his campaign, but also helped Edwards mistress and Andrew Young stay at his vacation mansion to hide her pregnancy. After Hunter becoming pregnant, Andrew Young issued a statement claiming the child was his. There are records that show that Baron, Young and Edward had conspired to come up with this plan.
13-What was the outcome of his trial? The outcome of the trial was that Edwards was pledge not guilty by the jurors, and he also recognized that he was the father of the mistress daughter which ended his candidacy.