Clinton Impeachment Question

[Sugarcoated]

I feel a little funny asking this, but I don't understand if Clinton was actually impeached (the way it's always said in the MSM) how could it be it missed by one vote?

[davekriss]

1. He was impeached

He was not convicted. THe House impeaches and the Senate convicts. It takes Senate conviction to remove a President from office.

[mike_c]

2. impeachment is the passage of articles of impeachment...

...by the house. It is equivalent to bringing charges. The senate votes on whether or not to remove the president from office after impeachment. Impeachment is NOT necessarily removal from office.

[EST]

3. Impeachment is kind of like an indictment.

Clinton was impeached and tried but he "beat the rap" as it were, and stayed in office. The only thing he was guilty of-and he was guilty-was lying about a blow job.

Had he actually been removed, it would have lowered the bar considerably concerning presidential power and culpability.

[Crabby Appleton]

4. Pres. Clinton was impeached in 1998

by the House of Representatives on grounds of perjury to a grand jury by a 228-206 vote. 55 senators voted "not guilty" and 45 voted "guilty" on the charge of perjury and the vote was 50-50 on the obstruction of justice charge. A 2/3 vote (67 votes) is required for conviction in the Senate.

[Sugarcoated]

5. It's confusing when they say he was impeached.

At least to me it is. Impeached means indicted not removed from office.

[baldguy]

6. Simple. It wasn't.

Impeachment requires a simple majority in the House, but 2/3, or 67 Senators must vote to remove the President.

There were four charges against Clinton: perjury (passed by the House 228-206), obstruction of justice (passed 221-212), a second count of perjury in the Jones case (defeated 205-229) and abuse of power (defeated 148-285).

Of the two charges that were sent to the Senate, the perjury charge was defeated 45-54, and the obstruction of justice charge was defeated 50-50.

None of the votes had bipartisan support. The REAL reason Clinton was impeached was because he was a Democrat.

[B Calm]

7. I learned from the Clinton Impeachment that there's

nothing morally wrong with supporting a flawed man; if there were, you would not be able to support any man, because all, absolutely all of us, are flawed, imperfect in one way or another. It should not bother you one bit, not for one second, whether Bill Clinton lied or committed perjury or got a blow job from a fat chick and tried to hide it from political hypocrites who were out to destroy democracy. I learned we are not fit to judge him, neither were the house managers. None of us is perfect, none of us may judge.

[longship]

8. Yes. Impeachment happens in the House of Reps.

Then, the charges are brought to the Senate for a trial. Remember, the Chief Justice presiding? If convicted in the Senate--which Clinton clearly was not--the person is removed from office.

Impeachment is equivalent to an indictment.

[suston96]

9. Maybe you are confusing......

..the Clinton impeachment trial with the Andrew Johnson impeachment trial - 1868?- who was acquitted by one vote.