The Impeachment of President Bill Clinton
The Impeachment of President Bill Clinton
The impeachment of President Clinton is something that will be remembered forever. Along with the fact that a presidential impeachment has only happened one other time since the Civil War, the publicity that came with the Clinton trial was extensive (Miller 2004). While the Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives had vastly different views on impeaching President Clinton, the fact that only five Democratic Representatives voted to impeach him truly shows how wide that gap was between the two parties. Clinton was impeached on the grounds of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice, with the vote on both articles extremely close, a 228-206 vote on perjury to a grand jury and a 221-212 vote on obstruction of justice (Rozell and Wilcox 1999). While the House of Representatives and the American people agreed that Clinton should be punished, impeachment seemed like the wrong form of punishment to most Americans. Numerous public opinion polls consistently showed that a majority of Americans agreed that Clinton should be punished, but most were opposed to impeachment. For example, in the 1998 American National Election Study, 1281 eligible voters were polled on various questions about Clinton on impeachment and resignation. When asked if Clinton should resign, thirty-two percent said yes, sixty-six percent said no, and two percent were undecided (Abramowitz 2001). Then, when asked if Clinton should be impeached, twenty-nine percent said yes, sixty-eight percent said no, and three percent were undecided (Abramowitz 2001).
Why, if most Americans opposed impeachment by the House, did Clinton still get impeached? I will argue that Clinton was impeached because ten percent of the House members were in their final term, making them liable only for their own opinion, the House had a majority of Republicans during the impeachment process, and the Republican representatives mainly based their decision
The impeachment of President Clinton is something that will be remembered forever. Along with the fact that a presidential impeachment has only happened one other time since the Civil War, the publicity that came with the Clinton trial was extensive (Miller 2004). While the Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives had vastly different views on impeaching President Clinton, the fact that only five Democratic Representatives voted to impeach him truly shows how wide that gap was between the two parties. Clinton was impeached on the grounds of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice, with the vote on both articles extremely close, a 228-206 vote on perjury to a grand jury and a 221-212 vote on obstruction of justice (Rozell and Wilcox 1999). While the House of Representatives and the American people agreed that Clinton should be punished, impeachment seemed like the wrong form of punishment to most Americans. Numerous public opinion polls consistently showed that a majority of Americans agreed that Clinton should be punished, but most were opposed to impeachment. For example, in the 1998 American National Election Study, 1281 eligible voters were polled on various questions about Clinton on impeachment and resignation. When asked if Clinton should resign, thirty-two percent said yes, sixty-six percent said no, and two percent were undecided (Abramowitz 2001). Then, when asked if Clinton should be impeached, twenty-nine percent said yes, sixty-eight percent said no, and three percent were undecided (Abramowitz 2001).
Why, if most Americans opposed impeachment by the House, did Clinton still get impeached? I will argue that Clinton was impeached because ten percent of the House members were in their final term, making them liable only for their own opinion, the House had a majority of Republicans during the impeachment process, and the Republican representatives mainly based their decision
Cited: Abramowitz, Alan I. 2001. It 's Monica, Stupid: The Impeachment Controversy and the 1998 Midterm Election Legislative Studies Quarterly 26 Bose, Meena. 2001. Evaluating the Clinton Impeachment: Judicial, International, and Institutional Persepectives Congress and the Presidency 28, 2 http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/105_pictorial/reps_ad.html (accessed October 5, 2005). Jacobson, Gary C. 1999. Impeachment Politics in the 1998 Congressional Elections Political Science Quarterly 114: 31-51 Kagay, Michael R. 1999. Presidential Address: Public Opinion and Polling During Presidential Scandal and Impeachment The Public Opinion Quarterly 63 Miller , John J. 2004. Argument Efficacy: Evaluating the Public Argument of President Bill Clinton 's Impeachment Crisis Argumentation and Advocacy 40 Rozell, Mark J, and Clyde Wilcox. 1999. The Clinton Scandal in Retrospect," PS: Political Science and Politics 32, 3: 538-540