Since 1787, the impeachment process has proven effective in ensuring that the president acts in the best interest of the country. The Founding Fathers based the impeachment process off of the British process to hold those in power accountable for their actions and allow one branch to act as the prosecutor, while the other acts as the trier. Overtime in the United States, impeachments were issued due to the president engaging unconstitutionally in office, acting with improper behavior, and using the office for personal gain. The purpose of impeachment is to protect the American people from the president exploiting his powers. The presidential impeachment process is sound because it was created by the founders to control the powers of the president, …show more content…
Before deciding on the legislative branch, Madison pushed for the federal courts to be the triers. Madison believed impeachment in the senate made the president dependent on the legislative branch when it should be independent (U.S. Senate). However, compared to Madison, Hamilton believed the judicial branch was too small to hold such an important trial. In addition, allowing the Supreme Court to oversee impeachment would skew the process because some of the justices could have been appointed by the sitting President. If they were appointed by the sitting president, they would most likely favor the president which would negatively impact the process. In the Federalist papers, Hamilton advocated for the senate to act as the “trier” for impeachment (Levinson). Although critics argue that this gives the senate too much power in the process, the senate merely reacts to the houses actions of imposing Articles of Impeachments. Allowing the legislative branches to oversee the impeachment process, gives them the power to check and balance the power of the president by elected officials. With the influence of Jefferson, each branch participates in the impeachment process (Bailey). Therefore, to balance the power of all three branches during the process, the Chief Justice oversees the trial in the …show more content…
The purpose of the presidential impeachment process is to protect the potential abuse of executive power, hold those with authority accountable for their actions, and voice the concerns of the public. This process is effective because it allows for each branch to check the president and ensure that he is not abusing his power (Turley 35). The house of representatives has the power to impeach, whereas the senate is the court of impeachment trials (Broderick 555). The house and senate both have an impact on the overall outcome of the process because the house can impose Articles of Impeachment that a majority of house members seem fit and the senate can decide whether the president should be impeached or not. The process takes into consideration the opinions of the public because the members of the house were put into office by voters and represent their constituents. When the senate votes in an open session on the verdict, they need a 2/3 supermajority vote needed for the conviction (U.S. Senate). The supermajority vote prevents partisan voting because it checks the senate to assure it is in support of the public good, not just the simple majority. The impeachment process guarantees that both the house of representatives and the senate have an influential role and are needed to approve impeachment. Needing both houses to approve the impeachment is a positive aspect of the process
There was discussion of judicial review in Federalist No. 78, written by Alexander Hamilton, which explained that the federal courts would have the power of judicial review. Hamilton stated that under the Constitution, the federal judiciary would have the power to declare laws unconstitutional. He also stated that this was appropriate because it would protect the people against abuse of power by Congress.
Rhetorical Analysis: in Barbara Jordan’s “Statement on the Articles of Impeachment” In 1976, the first African American Congresswoman took the podium to address the political problems in the U.S. She used every form of document in the constitution to prove that things can change if they were followed accordingly. This courageous woman, Barbara Jordan, wrote “Statements on the Articles of Impeachment”, delivered July 25, 1974 to the House Judiciary Committee and argued that if the President was to participate in anything suspicious and kept the person safe, he may be impeached. Jordan builds her credibility with the evidence of Richard Nixon’s activity with several things beyond out of order; during her speech she was forcefully optimistic
Andrew Johnson Jense Mercado Andrew Johnson was born in december 29,1808 in Raleigh,NC.He later then died in July 31, 1875 in Elizabethton TN.His political party was democratic, his presidential term was from April 15, 1864 to March 4 ,1868.Bill Clinton was the only other president to get impeached, he was impeached by the House Of Representative but acquitted by the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached. Bill Clinton was impeached on two charges perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton lied under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky but that was not the ground of the impeachment. Impeachment is a formal process in wich an official are accused of unlawful activity,the outcome of which depending on the country.
Within the following cases, were any of the actions grounds for impeachment? Firstly, Richard Nixon who, spied on the Democratic National Headquarters and went to great means to cover it up. Next, Warren Harding for taking bribes and giving out government oil and Ulysses Grant for illegally giving his friends and others discounts on stock. Lastly, Gerald Ford for pardoning Nixon was grounds for impeachment.
In Federalist no. 78 Hamilton states the court “will always be the least dangerous,” because the court had no enforcement mechanisms (O’Brien 29). He explains that the court’s function is “merely judgement” and it depends on the “aid of the executive arm” to enforce its judgements (O’Brien 346, Federalist No. 78). Hamilton states that the court had no power over the “sword or the purse” (O’Brien 346, Federalist No. 78). For Hamilton the fact that the court received its funding from Congress and did not command an army like the president would make it harmless. The court’s job was to judge, and relegate all actions upon which court decisions had been made to the authority of the president (O’Brien 346, Federalist No.
“Tench Coxe argued that while Britain’s king ‘is hereditary, and may be an ideot, a knave, or a tyrant,’ America’s president ‘cannot be...for those, whom nature makes so discover [i.e., reveal] it before the age thirty-five’” (Amar, p.160). Through “an impeachment standard...the Constitution structured… a system of national accountability” (Amar, p. 200-201). The process for impeachment was also not an easy one as it first had to show that the president was “unfit to serve [due to] treason, bribery, or any other ‘high Crimes [or] Misdemeanors’” (Amar, p. 198).
Since the establishment of the United States Supreme Court in 1789 the role and function of the court has varied depending on the need of the country. There are several different schools of thought when it comes to the purpose and the function that the Supreme Court should take, ranging from strictly ruling on constitutional matters up to weighing in on national policy cases. To evaluate what role the court actually takes, one must examine both the institutional function as well as the political function. Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist No. 78 has been considered one of the most influential pieces of work in the field, as it lays the ground work of what he believed was the role of the court.
Impeachment is still used today as we know and so far no other president had to be impeached ,but we hope that one won’t have to be impeached for awhile. To conclude, the impeachment process is a very big thing today and impeaching a
the president by majority vote for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. After going from the house, two-thirds of the Senate must approve this request within the presence of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. o There have only been two successful impeachments in the history of the United States. Andrew Johnson went against his own party in terms of policies regarding the Reconstruction era after the North won the Civil War.
The constitution gives congress permission to declare war and enact legislation. It also gives them permission to accept or reject Presidential appointments. The House of Representatives separated between 50 different states and has 435 elected members. There are 6 members that do not vote. The presiding officer of the Chamber is third in line in the succession of the presidency.
I think Barbara Jordan did a great job defining impeachment and clarifying its criteria. In her speech, Jordan discusses impeachment and states, “We know the nature of impeachment. We’ve been talking about it a while now. It is chiefly designed for the President and his high ministers to somehow be called into account. It is designed to “bridle” the Executive if he engages in excesses.
In document C there are the 3 branches of government and arrows pointing from one to the other telling us how each branch checks one another. Some of these are, the president can veto different laws if he does not like them, but Congress can override this veto and pass the law anyways if they have a majority vote to override it. The Courts can declare acts of either branch as unconstitutional. Congress can also impeach members of any other branch and can remove them from office. All of this means that whatever one branch does, it must go through the other two so no corrupt laws can be passed.
Separation of powers protects liberty by making sure that all government powers do not fall in the hands of a single person or a group of people it also ensure that one branch does not exercise the powers of another branch. The legislative branch is mainly responsible for lawmaking, in article one of the constitution congress is granted limited but substantial legislative power. For Example, in section 8 it mentions “congress shall have the power to establish Post offices and Post roads meaning that neither the executive branch nor the Judiciary branch can exercise these powers. The Executive branch is mainly responsible for enforcing laws, Article II of the constitution grants executive power to the President, Some of the president’s powers are to veto legislation, recommend legislation, grant pardons and nominate judges. The Judicial branch is the law interpreting branch of government, article III of the constitution establishes a federal system of courts that are separate from the state courts, judges are appointed for life unless they are impeached and judges are also independent of the other two branches and through their exercise of judicial powers judges cannot be threatened by either the executive or the legislative branch.
In Federalist 51, he focuses on how the Constitution divides the power of the government into three branches and so no one branch would have too much power. This was done by using the checks and balances system. Madison believes that each branch should be, for the most part, independent, but, to avoid any branches from abusing its power, no branch should have too much power in choosing the members of another. He says that to follow this rule strictly, the people of the United States would choose all members of all branches, but difficulties would arise as the people may not be aware of the best qualifications for each position. So, the branches check one another and the people elect the members other than in the judicial branch, whose members are chosen by the executive branch.
The Constitution of the United States was formed 223 years ago. Since 1787, a lot has changed. We grew as a country, technology advanced, and we elected 43 different presidents. One of witch, being the first African-American President in history. Due to its age, some may argue that the Constitution is irrelevant to today’s problems.