The impeachment trial of President Clinton is one of the most famous trials in the United States. The impeachment trial was famous because it was the second time in the history of the United States that the Senate had initiated efforts to impeach a president. The impeachment trial happened in 1998, and it was a result of charges of perjury and obstruction of justice against President Clinton. The impeachment trial hailed from a sexual harassment suit that was filed by Paula Jones in 1994.[1] Paula Jones accused President Clinton of sexually harassing her at Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock in 1991 while he was the governor of Arkansas. President Clinton through one of the members of his security detail invited Paula Jones to his presidential suite where he allegedly harassed her. Paula brought the lawsuit to Arkansas, and it opened a series of events that led to Clinton impeachment. Among the sequence of events included an affair with Monica Lewinsky which was the primary factor that led to the impeachment trial.[2] The following is the breakdown of significant and impact if the trial in the American society.
The impeachment trial had long-lasting effects on the American Society because it was the second time that efforts to remove a president were initiated. The trial raised many issues related to ethics, presidency and the rule of law. One of the significant impacts of the trial was that it showed the people of the United States that the president was not above the law. The case helped to define the position of the president in the rule of law.[3]
In other words, the trial showed that even presidents were subject to the judicial process. The trial also revealed that presidents could not be excused from judicial processes. Primarily, when Jones filed the lawsuit President Clinton through his lawyers sought immunity because of his status as a president. President Clinton stated that Jones lawsuit would derail the president from executing essential tasks of his office. The lawyers noted that the trial should not continue while he was still at the White House. However, the Supreme Court in 1997 delivered a unanimous ruling that allowed the case to proceed.[4]
On the flip side, it can also be argued that the trial undermined the presidency. In this case, the presidency is an institution which means that the Supreme Court should have waited until President Clinton had left the White House.[5]
Ideally, the accusations were not filed against the presidency but against the man who was holding the office. Therefore, the Supreme Court should have allowed the case to proceed after President Clinton had left office. Postponement of the case would have prevented another impeachment and safeguarded national interests. Furthermore, the trial alienated the mystic powers of a president. In other words, the public realized that presidents were not paragons or sophisticated beings.[6]
The other impact of the trial was that it showed the importance of not playing politics in the rule of law. Politics were the main reason why Clinton vs. Jones translated into an impeachment trial. In this case, if the Supreme Court was not playing politics, it would not have allowed the president affair with Monica Lewinsky who appeared in the list of witnesses to go to public domain. In other words, the affair had no relation with the public, and it should have remained a secret. Primarily, keeping the affair secret would have prevented a probe for impeachment.[7] In addition to that, Kenneth W. Starr played politics initiating an expansion of Clinton vs. Jones investigations. Kenneth W. Starr was an independent prosecutor who expanded the investigation of the sexual harassment case. Starr’s string of operations against President Clinton opened an in-depth probe of the relationship between Monica Lewinsky and the president. The probe led to the inclusion of Linda Tripp who had a personal vendetta against the president. Before the sexual harassment case, Tripp had organized an expose for the president, but she later bailed out because of the fear of losing her job.[8]
Principally, the inclusion of Tripp in the changed the landscape of the case because she had recorded tapes of Lewinsky confessing her relationship with the president. On the other hand, Clinton administration should not have played politics by initiating efforts to undermine instruments of justice. For instance, President Clinton should not have denied her relation with Lewinsky under oath especially in the wake of the evidence that has been presented.[9]
If both parties had not played politics, they would have reached an early settlement that would have prevented one of the biggest setbacks in America’s top institution.
Conclusion
In conclusion, President Clinton impeachment trial is one of the most significant trials in the United States. The trial was the second time that efforts to remove a president were initiated in American history. The trial had a massive impact on the American society because it showed the position of the president in the rule of law. The trial showed that presidents were not above the rule of law and were subject to the judicial process. Furthermore, the order of events demonstrated the importance of not playing politics in the judicial process. If legal institutions and the administration had not played politics, they would have prevented one of the biggest setbacks in America’s top institution. Lastly, the trial alienated mystic perceptions of presidents and proved that they were normal human beings.
Bibliography
Linder, O.D. "The Impeachment Trial of President William Clinton: An Account." Famous Trials. Accessed April 07, 2018. http://www.famous-trials.com/clinton/884-home
Morris, Irwin Lester. 2018. Votes, money, and the Clinton impeachment. Boulder (Colo.): Westview Press.
Posner, Richard A. 2009. An affair of state: the investigation, impeachment, and trial of President Clinton. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
[1] Linder, O.D. "The Impeachment Trial of President William Clinton: An Account." Famous Trials. Accessed April 07, 2018. http://www.famous-trials.com/clinton/884-home
[2] Ibid.,
[3] Posner, Richard A. 2009. An affair of state: the investigation, impeachment, and trial of President Clinton. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press
[4] Linder, O.D. "The Impeachment Trial of President William Clinton: An Account." Famous Trials. Accessed April 07, 2018. http://www.famous-trials.com/clinton/884-home
[5] Posner, Richard A. 2009. An affair of state: the investigation, impeachment, and trial of President Clinton. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press
[6] Ibid.,29
[7] Morris, Irwin Lester. 2018. Votes, money, and the Clinton impeachment. Boulder (Colo.): Westview Press
[8] Linder, O.D. "The Impeachment Trial of President William Clinton: An Account." Famous Trials. Accessed April 07, 2018. http://www.famous-trials.com/clinton/884-home
[9] Morris, Irwin Lester. 2018. Votes, money, and the Clinton impeachment. Boulder (Colo.): Westview Press
