{"source_url": "https://www.thehawkeye.com", "url": "https://www.thehawkeye.com/opinion/20200101/forgotten-history-of-impeachment?rssfeed=true", "title": "Forgotten history of impeachment", "top_image": "https://www.thehawkeye.com/Global/images/head/nameplate/fb/the-hawkeye_logo_fb.png", "meta_img": "https://www.thehawkeye.com/Global/images/head/nameplate/fb/the-hawkeye_logo_fb.png", "images": ["https://www.thehawkeye.com/Global/images/head/nameplate/thehawkeye_logo_new.png", "https://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=9289482&cv=2.0&cj=1", "https://www.thehawkeye.com/Global/images/head/nameplate/fb/the-hawkeye_logo_fb.png"], "movies": [], "text": "Article II, Section 4, the U.S. Constitution, establishes, \"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.\" Treason and bribery are specific. \"High crimes and misdemeanors\" are not. Defined meaning of the phrase cannot be found in the Constitution itself.\n\nThe first viewpoint by those who believe in a literal reading of the Constitution, the phrase means precisely what it says, that is criminal activity. They argue that the framers wanted only true criminal activities to be the basis for impeachment. The second viewpoint is much broader. It defines high crimes and misdemeanors as any serious abuse of power, including both legal\u2014but corrupt\u2014and illegal actions qualify. For instance, any civil officer may face impeachment for serious incompetence, misconduct, violations of oath of office, and, in the case of judges, activities that undermine public confidence or damage the integrity of the judiciary.\n\nFramers of the Constitution had considerable debate considering the issue of impeachment. As a matter of English practice and authoritative commentary by the mid-eighteenth century, impeachment embraced offenses involving official misconduct not necessarily those ordinarily punishable by the ordinary criminal law. Early discussion centered mostly on the idea of abuse or misuse of an official's government power.\n\nCoincidentally and concurrent with the Constitutional Convention in 1787, there was a prominent impeachment proceeding taking place in Great Britain. It was the impeachment of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India for \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors\u201d including charged offenses involving administrative misconduct, corruption, and cruel administration toward the people of India\u2014not mere crimes in the common law sense.\n\nOn June 13, the report of the \u201cCommittee of the Whole\u201d included a resolution that the executive would be removable \u201con impeachment and conviction of malpractices or neglect of duty.\u201d In subsequent debates, George Mason referred to \u201ccorruption\u201d as grounds for impeachment. Governor Morris, who wavered upon whether the President should be impeachable at all, eventually affirmed that a power of impeachment was necessary to guard against a President \u201ccorrupting his electors\u201d to gain office, betraying his trust, being in foreign pay, or engaging in \u201cbribery,\u201d \u201ctreachery,\u201d or other corruption.\n\nEdmund Randolph said impeachment was needed to guard against a President \u201cabusing his power.\u201d James Madison spoke broadly of impeachment as necessary to protect the people against \u201cnegligence\u201d or \u201cperfidy\u201d (dishonesty), warning that a President might \u201cpervert his administration into a scheme of peculation [self-dealing] or oppression\u201d or \u201cbetray his trust to a foreign power.\u201d A proposed offense of maladministration was rejected as being too vague and susceptible to political abuse.\n\nFinally, the Constitutional Convention returned to the familiar English common law standard of \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors.\u201d The offense(s) indicated have no precisely settled meaning, yet it means a universally understood, serious apolitical corrupt malpractice or abuse of one's office.\n\nAfter the Convention, to obtain ratification, Alexander Hamilton warned in the Federalists Essays that the \u201cgreatest danger\u201d to the new Republic would be attempted impeachment by a single party for its political interest(s) alone.\n\nJeffrey Lea, West Burlington", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": [], "authors": [], "publish_date": "Wed Jan  1 00:00:00 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "Article II, Section 4, the U.S. Constitution, establishes, \"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.\" Treason and bribery are specific. \"High crimes and misdemeanors\" are not. Defined meaning of the phrase cannot be found in the Constitution itself. The first viewpoint by those who believe in a literal reading of the Constitution, the", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://www.thehawkeye.com/Global/images/favicons/thehawkeye_favicon_new.png", "meta_data": {"viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0", "og": {"site_name": "The Hawk Eye Newspaper", "title": "Forgotten history of impeachment", "description": "Article II, Section 4, the U.S. Constitution, establishes, \"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be", "image": {"identifier": "https://www.thehawkeye.com/Global/images/head/nameplate/fb/the-hawkeye_logo_fb.png", "width": 200, "height": 200}, "type": "article"}, "msvalidate.01": "7E15F9269E2CE66F2A488ABB04B5015E", "description": "Article II, Section 4, the U.S. Constitution, establishes, \"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.\" Treason and bribery are specific. \"High crimes and misdemeanors\" are not. Defined meaning of the phrase cannot be found in the Constitution itself. The first viewpoint by those who believe in a literal reading of the Constitution, the", "bt": {"pubDate": "20200101T17:18:00Z", "modDate": "20200101T17:18:00Z"}, "twitter": {"title": "Forgotten history of impeachment", "description": "Article II, Section 4, the U.S. Constitution, establishes, \"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.\" Treason and bribery are specific. \"High crimes and misdemeanors\" are not. Defined meaning of the phrase cannot be found in the Constitution itself. The first viewpoint by those who believe in a literal reading of the Constitution, the", "card": "summary", "image": "https://www.thehawkeye.com/Global/images/head/nameplate/fb/the-hawkeye_logo_fb.png", "site": "@thehawkeye"}, "vf": {"unique_id": "siteIA-pub4828-9B182139-C450-741D-E053-0100007FBB0F"}, "article": {"opinion": "true"}}, "canonical_link": "https://www.thehawkeye.com/opinion/20200101/forgotten-history-of-impeachment"}