Read complete books and articles on: Impeachment

Impeachment - formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is sometimes applied also to the trial by the legislature that may follow. Impeachment developed in England, beginning in the 14th cent., as a means of trying officials suspected of dereliction of duty. The English procedure was for the House of Commons to prosecute by presenting articles of impeachment to the House of Lords, which rendered judgment. Any penalty, including death, might be inflicted. The impeachment (1787) and trial (1788–95) of Warren Hastings was among the last of the English cases.

In the United States impeachment of public officials is provided for in the federal government and in most states. In federal matters the U.S. Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to impeach civil officers of the United States, including the President and Vice President, but not including members of Congress. Impeachments are tried by the Senate, with the concurrence of two thirds of the members present needed for conviction. The sole penalties on conviction are removal from office and disqualification from holding other federal office; however, the convicted party is liable to subsequent criminal trial and punishment for the same offense.

There have been 16 impeachments tried by the Senate and seven convictions. Three of the best-known cases, which did not result in conviction, were those of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase, President Andrew Johnson, and President Bill Clinton (see Lewinsky scandal). In 1974 the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives voted to bring impeachment charges against President Richard Nixon (see Watergate affair), but Nixon resigned before the House took action.

See studies by I. Brant (1972), R. Berger (1973), C. L. Black, Jr. (1974), J. R. Labovitz (1978), and R. A. Posner (1999).

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14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Impeachment

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Andrew Johnson: Congress and Reconstruction » Read Now
by Howard P. Nash Jr. 178 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Charles Sumner Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1900 , p. 300. 23 Harrison Gray Otis, "The Causes of Impeachment," The Century , December 1912, p. 192. of the several...
2.

Watergate and Afterward: The Legacy of Richard M. Nixon » Read Now
by Leon A. Friedman, William F. Levantrosser. 378 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This volume examines the Watergate controversy and its legacy, focusing particular attention on Nixon's alleged misuse of government power for political ends, his administration's obsession with secrecy and the control of information, and the impeachment proceedings. Based upon the Hofstra...
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This volume examines the Watergate controversy and its legacy, focusing particular attention on Nixon's alleged misuse of government power for political ends, his administration's obsession with secrecy and the control of information, and the impeachment proceedings. Based upon the Hofstra Presidential Conference on Richard M. Nixon, the collection includes a final assessment of the Nixon presidency by a group of biographers who have written extensively about the man and his politics as well as appraisals of Nixon's accomplishments and failures by administration figures, outside historians, and journalists.
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3.

An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton » Read Now
by Richard A. Posner. 276 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

PRESIDENT CLINTON'S YEAR OF CRISIS, which began when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the front pages in January 1998, engendered a host of important questions of criminal and constitutional law, public and private morality, and political and cultural conflict.
In a book written while the events...
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PRESIDENT CLINTON'S YEAR OF CRISIS, which began when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the front pages in January 1998, engendered a host of important questions of criminal and constitutional law, public and private morality, and political and cultural conflict.
In a book written while the events of the year were unfolding, Richard Posner presents a balanced and scholarly understanding of the crisis that also has the freshness and immediacy of journalism. Posner clarifies the issues and eliminates misunderstandings concerning the facts and the law that were relevant to the investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and to the impeachment proceeding itself. He explains the legal definitions of obstruction of justice and perjury, which even many lawyers are unfamiliar with. He carefully assesses the conduct of Starr and his prosecutors, including their contacts with the lawyers for Paula Jones and their hardball tactics with Monica Lewinsky and her mother. He compares and contrasts the Clinton affair with Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, exploring the subtle relationship between public and private morality. He examines the place of impeachment in the American constitutional scheme, the pros and cons of impeaching President Clinton, and the major procedural issues raised by both the impeachment in the House and the trial in the Senate. Finally, he seeks to mine the crisis for the many important lessons that it offers concerning the need for greater pragmatism in the Supreme Court (which Posner holds responsible in part for the crisis), for a more careful delineation of the character traits desirable in modern American political leaders, for greatersobriety among intellectuals who comment on public affairs, and for a better understanding of the dynamics of political conflict. This book, reflecting the breadth of Posner's experience and expertise, will be the essential
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4.

Checking Executive Power: Presidential Impeachment in Comparative Perspective » Read Now
by Jody C. Baumgartner, Naoko Kada. 196 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Baumgartner, Kada, and their contributors examine the extraordinary process of presidential impeachment and add to a virtual vacuum in political science literature on presidential impeachment, especially in countries other than the United States. The contributors examine presidential impeachment...
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Baumgartner, Kada, and their contributors examine the extraordinary process of presidential impeachment and add to a virtual vacuum in political science literature on presidential impeachment, especially in countries other than the United States. The contributors examine presidential impeachment attempts in such varied settings as the United States, Russia, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, the Philippines, and Madagascar.
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5.

Impeachment: Trials and Errors (1972) » Read Now
by Irving Brant. 202 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
6.

The Constitutional and Popular Law of Presidential Impeachment, in Presidential Studies Quarterly » Read Now
by Richard M. Pious. 10 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Constitutional and Popular Law of Presidential Impeachment. by RICHARD M. PIOUS The...ambiguous, or silent on key issues involving impeachment of a president. Democrats and...
7.

The Special Constitutional Structure of the Federal Impeachment Process, in Law and Contemporary Problems » Read Now
by Michael J. Gerhardt. 12 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...constitutional structure of the federal impeachment process. by Michael J. Gerhardt...state of discourse on President Clintons impeachment proceedings. Throughout the...
8.

Impeachment as Congressional Constitutional Interpretation, in Law and Contemporary Problems » Read Now
by Neal Kumar Katyal. 24 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Impeachment as congressional constitutional interpretation. by Neal Kumar Katyal NEAL KUMAR...should not be surprising, as the Constitution vests the judiciary with...
9.

Impeachment and the Independent Counsel: A Dysfunctional Union, in Stanford Law Review » Read Now
by Kenneth Gormley. 48 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Impeachment and the Independent Counsel: a dysfunctional union...Congress any "substantial and credible evidence" related to impeachment, raises particular problems...
10.

"From Pillar to Post": The Prosecution of American Presidents, in American Criminal Law Review » Read Now
by Jonathan Turley. 58 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...theoretical issues in the debates over the impeachment and indictment of Presidents. The latter...heightens the concerns raised over the impeachment standards. Both the...
11.

Presidential Impeachment: The Original Misunderstanding, in Constitutional Commentary » Read Now
by John V. Orth. 4 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Presidential impeachment: the original misunderstanding...expounding. John Marshall Presidential impeachment and removal from office undoes the...Congress, and Section 4...
12.

Yet Another Constitutional Crisis?, in William and Mary Law Review » Read Now
by Keith E. Whittington. 58 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
13.

The Day After: Do We Need a "Twenty-Eighth Amendment?," in Constitutional Commentary » Read Now
by Joel B. Grossman, David A. Yalof. 12 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...only through the extreme measure of impeachment. Only two presidents have ever been...the twentieth century, prior to the impeachment of President Clinton, only judges...
14.

History and Procedure of the House of Representatives (Chap. XVII "Impeachment Proceedings") » Read Now
by De Alva Stanwood Alexander. 435 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...273 XV. DEBATE AND DEBATERS 288 XVI. CONTESTED ELECTION CASES 313 XVII. IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS 331 XVIII. THE PRESIDENT AND THE HOUSE 353 APPENDIX 389 A...