Why was President Clinton impeached???
Former President Clinton was in fact impeached on Dec. 19, 1998 by the house of representatives, for perjury and obstruction of justice. I think the confusion most people have is that he was later, acquitted of the charges. He was originally being tried for a sexual assault. During the testimony while he was under oath, he was questioned about the charge, which is where he lied. The case ended up being dismissed, but it was learned that he did in fact lie during his questioning, prompting the subpeona to the grand jury. During the grand jury investigation, he was caught lying again. So as far as your question is concerned, the impeachment had more to do with the felonious act of lying under oath than anything else. It is funny how those that argue 'political persecution', tend to overlook the fact that all of his problems started when he was brought to court for the sexual assault charge and decided to lie about it....
Was president Nixon the first President impeached? Why was he impeached?
Many mistakenly assume Richard Nixon was impeached, but he wasn't. While the House Judiciary Committee did approve articles of impeachment against him (by wide margins) and did report those articles to the full House, Nixon resigned prior to House consideration of the impeachment resolutions. Both his impeachment by the House of Representatives and his conviction by the Senate were near certainties; Nixon reportedly decided to resign after being told this by Republican Senator Barry Goldwater. Only two presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 after violating the then-newly created Tenure of Office Act. President Johnson was acquitted of all charges by a single vote in the Senate. Bill Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998 by the House of Representatives on grounds of perjury to a grand jury (by a 228–206 vote) and obstruction of justice (by a 221–212 vote). Two other articles of impeachment failed—a second count of perjury in the Jones case (by a 205–229 vote), and one accusing President Clinton of abuse of power (by a 148–285 vote). He was acquitted by the Senate. Impeachment occurs so rarely that the term is often misunderstood. A typical misconception is to confuse it with involuntary removal from office; in fact it is only the legal statement of charges, parallelling an indictment in criminal law. An official who is impeached faces a second legislative vote (whether by the same body or another), which determines conviction, or failure to convict, on the charges embodied by the impeachment. Most constitutions require a supermajority to convict.
President Clinton was impeached by house of representatives but found not guilty by senate?
Aaron clearly doesn't understand the process. The House impeaches (files charges). The Sentate tries (determines guilt or innocence). The House only accuses so it couldn't have possibly found Clinton guilty of anything. Clinton was exonerated in the Senate.
Why was Bill Clinton Impeached?
Clinton was impeached by the House in '98 and acquitted by the Senate. It was only the 2nd impeachment of a President in US history. If he had been honest about the whole thing, some people might have been butthurt but he would have avoided the impeachment process. As it stands, people are still upset that he perjured himself while holding the office of President of the United States of America.
Bill Clinton's impeachment?
It is apparent to me from all the answers so far that not only are people woefully ignorant as to the functioning of government, but also that they cannot be bothered to take the few minutes required to research what "impeachment" means. An impeachment of a public official, including, but not limited to, the president, is simply an indictment, an accusation, that is made by the House of Representatives. So yes, despite what is obviously common belief, Bill Clinton was impeached. Once the House passes the articles of impeachment, the case then goes to the Senate to be tried. If two-thirds of the Senators present end up voting to convict, the official is removed from office. In this phase of the process, Bill Clinton was acquitted. Also as seems to be common belief, Clinton was not impeached for having an affair, which is not illegal. He was impeached for lying about having an affair while under oath, i.e., committing perjury -- which is illegal -- in testimony before Congress. Many politicians, not only Democrats but also Republicans, considered the impeachment proceedings to be unnecessary, at best, and at worst ridiculous. This was also the feeling of much of the country, as attested to by the fact that Clinton's approval rating actually went up during the process. That, plus the increasing calls to end the ridiculous charade from the press and the public, resulted in many Republicans refusing to convict. I'll leave it to others to provide more details, but I wanted to make sure that the discussion revolved around the facts, and not around what people "think" are the facts.