Impeachment of Bill Clinton

The impeachment of Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was initiated in December 1998 by the House of Representatives and led to a trial in the Senate on two charges, one of perjury and one of obstruction of justice.[1] These charges stemmed from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Clinton by Paula Jones. Clinton was subsequently acquitted of these charges by the Senate on February 12, 1999.[2] Two other impeachment articles – a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of power – failed in the House. Bill Clinton.jpg This article is part of a series about Bill Clinton Political positions Electoral history Early life Family Public image Sexual misconduct allegations Governor of Arkansas Governorship President of the United States Presidency Timeline Policies Economic Gun control Environmental Foreign Clinton Doctrine International trips Appointments Cabinet Judiciary First term 1st inauguration Health Security Act NAFTA Republican Revolution AmeriCorps Dayton Agreement Second term 2nd inauguration One America Initiative Balanced Budget Operation Infinite Reach Bombing of Iraq Bombing of Yugoslavia Clinton–Lewinsky scandal Impeachment Presidential campaigns Controversies Whitewater White House travel office Pardon Post-presidency Presidential Library My Life Activities Clinton Foundation Clinton Bush Haiti Fund One America Appeal Bill Clinton's signature Coat of Arms of Bill Clinton.svg vte Leading to the impeachment, Independent Counsel Ken Starr turned over documentation to the House Judiciary Committee. Chief Prosecutor David Schippers and his team reviewed the material and determined there was sufficient evidence to impeach the president. As a result, four charges were considered by the full House of Representatives; two passed, making Clinton the second president to be impeached, after Andrew Johnson in 1868, and only the third against whom articles of impeachment had been brought before the full House for consideration (Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency in 1974, while an impeachment process against him was underway). The trial in the United States Senate began right after the seating of the 106th Congress, in which the Republican Party held 55 Senate seats. A two-thirds vote (67 senators) was required to remove Clinton from office. Fifty senators voted to remove Clinton on the obstruction of justice charge and 45 voted to remove him on the perjury charge; no member of his own Democratic Party voted guilty on either charge. Clinton, like Johnson a century earlier, was acquitted on all charges. wrote: