15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
[[File:William-blount-wb-cooper.jpg|thumb|Figure 1. William Blount was the first federal government representative to be impeached.]]Impeachment is a two-part process that allows state or federal legislatures in the United States to remove either an elected or appointed official from office for "high crimes and misdemeanors." The process where begins in the state or federal house of representatives. After a government trial, the official then faces an impeachment vote by the lower house. House votes typically only require a majority vote for impeachment. If the officialis impeached by the house, at then it is then referred to the state or federal level senate. The Senate then decides if that official will be convicted and removed from office based on the findings of the House during the impeachment process. Unlike the vote in the United Stateshouse for impeachment, is removed most senates are required to have 2/3 majority to remove an official from office. It represents Impeachment and conviction represent a critical part of the checks and balances envisioned by the Constitution and also by local and state laws. While impeachment of presidents has been rare, judges, congressional members, governors, and others have been impeached while holding office. Additionally, while impeachment and convictions are often compared to trials, they are inherently political. Politics can play a larger role than evidence.
====Early Impeachments in the 18th and 19th Century====Impeachments are seen as the first step in a way process to remove a public official by a the lower legislative house when a given crime has been committed by an official, often during their tenure, although it is possible to also remove an official after the disclosure of a crime after an official enters office. William Blount (Figure 1) was the first elected official who was impeached. He was a senator from Tennesse and in 1797 was impeached for conspiring with Great Britain to wage war and capture Spanish territory so that his real estate ventures would benefit. The senator was a known land speculator who had purchased territory in western Tennessee and other surroundings. He had over purchased and was in debt, thus to raise the land's value he tried to have Great Britain seize territory in Louisiana from Spain, as colonists might be forced to move to areas where he owned land. This backfired on him and the House of Representatives tried to impeach him for conspiring with a foreign state to launch a war between Spain and Great Britain, but ultimately the Senate refused to accept the House's oversight and decision. The Senate did removed him anyway but during this early history of the United States the Senate wanted more separation from the House.<ref>For more on these early trials, see: Melton, B. F. (1998). <i>The first impeachment: the constitution’s framers and the case of Senator William Blount (1st ed)</i>. Macon, Ga: Mercer University Press. </ref>
During the time between the founding of the United States and the Civil War, there were three impeachments, all of whom were judges. Two of these were local district Judges, John Pickering and James Peck, but one was a chief justice (Samuel Chase). Most of the issues against them had to do with abuse of power, and drunkness in the case of John Pickering. In the case of Samuel Chase, Thomas Jefferson had found him obstructionist in his political agenda after the 1800 election. Although a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Chase had been known for irregular behavior including using his position in the Contential Congress to improve his business dealings. He was appointed by Washington to the Supreme Court and during the time of Jefferson, the Supreme Court was seen as a threat to seizing too much power. In 1803, articles of impeachment were brought up against him, dealing with the justice's behavior against Thomas Cooper and others. Thomas Cooper was tried under the Alien and Sedition Acts for criticizing John Adams, the previous president. Samuel Chase repeatedly riled against Thomas Cooper, a close friend to Thomas Jefferson, leading to Thomas Jefferson trying to remove Samuel Chase from office because he saw him overstepping his bounds. Ultimately, this proved unsuccessful for Jefferson and Chase was formally acquited in 1805.<ref>For more on Samuel Chase and his case, see: Rehnquist, W. H. (1999). <i>Grand inquests: the historic impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson (1. Quill ed., reissued)</i>. New York: Quill/Morrow.</ref>
