Posted on August 19, 2017
Some people talk about impeaching a president as if that means removing him. And it doesn't.
"Impeachment" is part of a process by which Congress can remove a president from power. The House of Representatives has the sole power to impeach, and a simple majority of representatives is all that's necessary to do so.
The representatives would draw up articles of impeachment, with each article being a specific charge against the president.
If the House impeaches the president, the matter then goes to the Senate, where a trial is held. The judge in the trial is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and two-thirds of the Senators must vote to convict the president on any one charge - and, if that happens, the president is removed.
In the whole history of the United States, no president has ever been removed from office in this way.* But two presidents - Andrew Johnson and today's birthday honoree, Bill Clinton - have been impeached. But neither was convicted by the Senate. Johnson was acquitted by the slimmest of margins (only one vote), but Clinton was easily acquitted.
Bill Clinton wasn't just one of only two presidents who were impeached. He was also the president who had the highest end-of-office approval rating of any president since WWII - yep, that's right, higher than Eisenhower and Reagan!
Here are just a few of his other accomplishments:
Rhodes Scholar
 |
| Playing the saxophone |
Governor of Arkansas:
Overhauled school system in Arkansas
While U.S. president:
Welfare reform
Children's health insurance program
Changed a budge deficit into a budget surplus
Post presidency:
Established Clinton Foundation, a global charity
Raised money for research on new vaccines/medicines
Helped bring down cost of medicines
Provided medical care for millions and millions
Of course, Clinton is the husband of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
* NOTE:
(By the way, the only president who resigned from office - Richard Nixon - did so when facing almost-certain impeachment and conviction.)
Also on this date:
Plan ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:
No comments:
Post a Comment