Impeachment of Clinton&Johnson essays

Impeachment of Clinton&Johnson essays The Federalist Papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in order to garner support for the soon to be Constitution of the United States. In 65, Hamilton discusses the powers of the senate in relation to the impeachment process. The Senate is designated as sufficiently dignified and sufficiently independent since it is able to remain unawed and uninfluenced, and therefore, able to preserve the impartiality between accused and accuser/s. Yet in the impeachment trials of both Presidents Johnson and Clinton, the Senate proved to be anything but uninfluenced as politics came into play during both cases. During his reintegration of the South into the union, Johnson made enemies of an influential faction in the Republican Party, the Radicals. They believed that their goals could only be achieved once the president had been removed from office. Many other Republicans had been offended with his leniency towards the former Confederate States, forcing them to cooperate with the Radicals, yet impeachment seemed to drastic a measure. Two attempts of impeachment were made, but they resulted in failure. The action of President Johnson that led directly to his impeachment was his deliberate violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The Tenure of Office Act expanded the power to advise and consent" by giving the Senate the right to accept or to reject the dismissal of presidential appointees. Under this law, the president could not remove incumbents in the executive branch while the Senate was in session without a majority vote in favor of the action. When the Senate was not in session, the pre sident could suspend an official and appoint a temporary replacement that would remain until the Senate returned and confirmed it. The president had vetoed the act, but the Republican majority in Congress overrode the veto. Believing that the act was unconstitutiona...