Almost ten years in the past, Bill Clinton’s story in the White House is all but written in stone. No matter the accomplishments the administration accomplished in its time, Clinton’s extramarital affair and subsequent impeachment will pervade, if not dominate, the president’s legacy. The major facts stand mostly undisputed: the president engaged in sexual activity with Monica Lewinsky and maneuvered to keep the affair secret, culminating in explicit lies to a grand jury. Republican opponents of the president had unreserved political motivations to remove the president from office. Revisiting this scandal with these facts would be both fatiguing and evasive of the underlying issues at stake. To truly gauge the justness of Clinton’s impeachment, one must look at the original intent of impeachment as well as its history with regard to other presidents. Furthermore, analyzing the investigation itself requires understanding specific motives and laws that both Democrats and Republicans took advantage of. Here we examine the ethics of the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton with regard to original Constitutional intent, historical precedent, and the political climate during his administration.
To begin evaluating Clinton’s indiscretion as an impeachable offense requires understanding the original purpose of impeachment when the American government was first defined and justified in 1787. The Philadelphia Convention, tasked with laying the groundwork for a new government, was the result of failing autonomous states and too weak a central government set by the Articles of Confederation. James Madison, the ‘Father of the Constitution,’ recognized that such interstate futility led to the “mischief of factions” (Madison, 1787). Th...
... middle of paper ...
...ormational Leadership: Towards a Federalist Ethic for Organization. Ethics, the Heart of Leadership (pp. 111-140). Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Paperback.
Linder, D. O. (n.d.). An Introduction to the Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson. UMKC School of Law. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/impeach/imp_account2.html
Madison, J. (1787, November 27). Federalist, no. 10, 56--65. Electronic resources from the University of Chicago Press Books Division. Retrieved May 22, 2010, from http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch4s19.html
McGann, E., & Morris, D. (2004). Because He Could. New York: HarperCollins.
Otto von Bismarck quotes. (n.d.). Find the famous quotes you need, ThinkExist.com Quotations.. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from http://thinkexist.com/quotation/politics_is_the_art_of_the_possible-the/170888.html
On the turntable of American politics Dick Morris has established himself as a masterful disk jockey. However, his ability to artistically mix campaign messages has earned him a scratched personal reputation. The rhetoric of Dick Morris transcends partisan boundaries to such a degree that it lacks foundation. His career has earned him praise but at the expense of intense scorn. His political strategy and poll based campaigning have earned him a reputation as both a genius and amoral. In many ways the controversial aspects of his messages reflect contemporary discussion of American politics. The flaws of his character reveal some of the flaws in our representative system. The recent Impeachment Trial of President Clinton has also brought attention to flaws in our representative system. Dick Morris's political commentary on the Impeachment and the work of his career offers insight with which to examine a growing discontent among the American public towards our nation's politics.
None of this would have been much of a problem had Monica Lewinsky had not told Tripp that Bill Clinton and Vernon Jordan instructed her to lie about the affair with Clinton. Supposedly Linda Tripp has Monica alleging this on tape. These tapes if finally released to the public should prove to be quite titillating, Monica Lewinsky claims that Clinton was very fond of oral sex and that she it to him on a number of occasions. It has been alleged by various news organizations that a secret service agent actually caught Lewinsky and Clinton in the act. It has also been alleged that Monica Lewinsky has a blue semen stained dress which, if true, would be direct DNA evidence of the affair. But it still would not prove obstruction of justice. If that was ever proven it could be an impeachable offence, a sexual scandal probably would not lead to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. If not then it will simply be a source of Bill Clinton jokes.
Madison, James. “The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection”. 23 November 1787. The Library of Congress. Web. 19 September 2013. :
Impeachment is the ultiomate punishment for a president. It is a long and complicated rout to removing a public official from office. The Constitutional process Article II, section 4 specifies the procedures to be used to remove a public official from office(CNN/All Politics). The constitution states that and president found guilty for bribery, treason, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. There has been a long debate on what should be considered a high crime. Different people in the House share different views. Ultimately it is up to the Hose to decide to drop the charges or further the investigation. If the public official is found guilty a two thirds majority vote from the Senate is necessary. The most recent president to face an impeachment hearing was Bill Clinton. A previous case involving Richard Nixon, Watergate, was held in 1974. Rather than facing an embarrassment with impeachment Nixon chose to resign in disgrace.
My fellow congressmen, Representative Nicholas and I are here today to speak to you about the possible impeachment of our President, Andrew Jackson. Many of you allege that President Jackson should be impeached for expanding the powers of presidency and for his actions regarding the national bank, spoils system, the forced removal of Native Americans, and the nullification crisis. The truth, however, is that our president has acted only while keeping the interests of this great nation in mind. He has fought for the common man, and though he has made mistakes and crossed certain boundaries, as almost all presidents do, he has only done so while trying to help our country grow and prosper. There is therefore, no reason for his impeachment.
Out of all of the current presidents in our time the most interesting president to explore was President Richard Nixon and out of all of them he was the only one in term to resign. That Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment to be executed to the fullest extent of their nature. His poor choices and decisions led to his resignation. Although he did have some good qualities in helping the U.S. the bad however override the good. In the CRS (Congressional Research Service) It states: “ Obstruction of justice is the impediment of governmental activities. There are a host of federal criminal laws that prohibit obstructions of justice. The six most general outlaw obstruction of judicial proceedings (18 U.S.C. 1503), witness tampering (18 U.S.C. 1512), witness retaliation (18 U.S.C. 1513), obstruction of Congressional or administrative proceedings (18 U.S.C. 1505), conspiracy to defraud The United States (18 U.S.C. 371), and contempt (a creature of statute, rule and common law). Simple perjury in a federal investigation or judicial proceedings carries an extensive fine and up to 5 years in prison.” This was the first article president Richard M. Nixon was charged with by the House of Judiciary Committee. The vote was 27 to 1 for Nixon to be charged with the first article of impeachment, which was Obstruction of Justice. In denial of his liability in part taking in the Watergate scandal by saying he wasn't involved in the scandal He pointed finger at others that were involved in the break-in. However, tapes were found of conversations that proved his involvement and he was going to be impeached. Before he was charged, he made a resignat...
Linda Tripp, due to her key role in the Impeachment Scandal has become one of the most controversial figures in current politics. Is she a villain or is she a hero? Looking at Tripp’s actions before, during, and after the Impeachment Scandal the question arises; were these actions legitimate or were they improper? An important factor in answering this question is the audience’s reaction to Tripp’s behavior along with an analyzation and critique of her actions.
Before Clinton was elected President he had an encounter with Paula Jones in a hotel room. After Clinton took office Paula Jones then sued Clinton for sexual harassment. A short time later Monica Lewinsky began her intern at the White House. Clinton and Lewinsky began a sexual relationship. Judge Kenneth Starr was the investigator of Whitewater. President Clinton denied any sexual relations with Lewinsky. On October 8, 1998, the House would vote to have an impeachment and won. Clinton was charged with perjury and obstruction to justice. Bill Clinton would end up not getting kicked out of office by senate.
Upon the formation of a new Nation in the late 1700s, the founding fathers of the United States put in place checks and balances to protect against an imbalance of power. One of the most powerful of those measures is the ability of the legislative branch to impeach government officials. Impeachment is rarely used, but it acts as an important “backup plan” if things go sideways in government. Allen J. Lichtman’s chapter “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” asserts through a series of explanations and examples of impeachment that it is imperative for Donald J. Trump be removed from office. He goes on to argue two critical points within the chapter: impeachment is a necessary tool of American government, and Donald Trump’s actions eerily
www.freerepublic.com "CLINTON SCANDALS," The Progressive Review Pub. Aug. 12, 2000 Posted on 08/12/2000 01:52:19 PDT by Jim Robinson.
On Jan. 26, 1998, President William J. Clinton famously told the nation, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” (William J. Clinton). It was the lie that started the impeachment process of the 42nd President of the United States of America. America loves the fairytale love stories but this story is the exact opposite. Monica Lewinsky is the person that everyone knows as the mistress of President Clinton. Although Monica Lewinsky is usually the name you hear when speaking of Bill Clinton’s affair, she wasn’t the only one. Before he became president he had many affairs. In the 1970s before Clinton took office he had a twelve year affair with a model and actress, Gennifer Flowers. Not only did he have an affair with
Political leaders of the United States were, at one time, thought of as crucial members of our society. Ideally, their main goal was to represent and satisfy the needs of the American people. Unfortunately, over the last fifty years, our trust in our administrative representatives has drastically declined. Beginning with the great conspiracy theory that President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 was actually planned by political leaders, America had, for the first time in history, begun to question its faith in its very own government. Consequently, the American people became extremely hesitant when it came to electing officials into office. Despite his loss to JFK in the 1960 presidential election, in 1968, Richard M. Nixon was elected as the thirty-seventh president of the United States. He was praised by many for his comeback after previously losing an election and seemed to be an admirable man. While in office, Nixon made many achievements and followed through with all of his promises made during his campaign. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the American people had finally elected a leader who seemed unquestionably trustworthy – or so they thought. Unfortunately, shortly after Nixon was elected to his second term of presidency in 1972, the Watergate Scandal changed America forever by creating a sense of mistrust toward the government for the American people because of The Nixon Administration’s actions.
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.
Lately, the top story in the news day after day, months after months have been about William Jefferson Clinton, also known as Bill. Who could blame them, there is nothing better than a story out of the ordinary, especially one with presidential status. For the past months he has been the most talked about figure, being the essential topic for news, talk shows, late night comedy and even going as far as the big screen. Talk about 'Primary Colors' and 'Wag the Dog.' What has gotten to me the most however, were the constant flow of Republicans, along with a few Democrats, who just want to say how shocked and embarrassed they are along with the people of the United States.The president had not just become the most talked about figure, but also one history had ever seen, so far that is, breaking the record and becoming a topic of conversation and debate 'twenty-four seven.' The people, who I think were most affected by this crisis and feel very sad for, are the Republicans, since they had lost severe amount of sleep over the president's bedroom crisis. They had to perform their republican duties by shocking our brains with the president's affair with Monica Lewinsky. We had to ignore the rest of the world news and its issues while they plough through the valley of lies, abuse of power and something they called high crimes and misdemeanors.
Madison, James. “The Federalist No. 10.” 1787. In Dimensions of Culture 2: Justice. Ed. Valerie Hartouni, Robert Horwitz and John Skrentny. San Diego: University Readers, 2011. 71-74. Print.