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Personal 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas 42nd President of the United States Tenure Appointments Presidential campaigns   | ||
During his presidency,Bill Clinton, the42ndpresident of the United States, saw multiple efforts toimpeach him.
An early effort in congress sawRepublican congressmanBob Barr write a resolution, co-signed by eighteen fellowHouse Republicans, which sought to launch an impeachmentinquiry in 1997.
In October of 1998, in the aftermath of theClinton–Lewinsky scandal and the release of theStarr Report, which largely focused on the scandal,an impeachment inquiry was launched, and in December Clintonwas impeached on allegations ofperjury andobstruction of justice. Clinton was acquitted inhis subsequent impeachment trial.
By October 1993, a petition was being nationally circulated to impeach Clinton for, among other offenses, allegedly abusing his office and causing "great prejudice to the cause of law and justice". The petition was organized by Carol and Michael Benn.[1]
In 1994,anti-abortionactivistRandall Terry toured the country on an "Impeach Clinton '94 Tour".[2]
In the spring of 1997, Republican congressmanBob Barr, wroteHouse Committee on the Judiciary chairmanHenry Hyde, encouraging him to open animpeachment inquiry. Hyde responded that such an action would be premature.[3]
In November 1997, Bob Barr introduced a resolution to launch an impeachment inquiry.[3] The resolution did not specify any charges or allegations.[4] Barr argued that Clinton had been "systematically operating outside the bounds" of the law.[4] He accused Clinton of "systematic abuse of office", alleging campaign finance law violations and obstruction of congressional investigations.[3] Eighteen other Republican members of the House of Representatives initially joined Barr in signing on to the resolution as co-sponsors. These members wereRoscoe Bartlett,Helen Chenoweth,Barbara Cubin,John Doolittle,Lindsey Graham,Duncan L. Hunter,Sam Johnson,Jack Kingston,Jack Metcalf,John Mica,Ron Paul,Dana Rohrabacher,Pete Sessions,Chris Smith,Mark Souder,Linda Smith,Bob Stump, andTodd Tiahrt.[4] The resolution was referred to theHouse Committee on Rules.[5]
By this time, anti-Clintonactivists had collected 100,000 signatures supporting his impeachment, and had launched at least four differentwebsites on theinternet.[4] Among the groups circulating petitions supporting an impeachment of Clinton was a group named the "National Impeach Clinton ACTION Committee", which was run by thefar-rightJohn Birch Society, who called for Clinton to be impeached for the1996 United States campaign finance controversy.[6][7][8]
In December 1997, conservative activistPhyllis Schlafly wrote anop-ed calling for Barr's calls for an impeachment to be heeded, arguing that an impeachment inquiry should be launched into allegations that Clinton and his vice presidentAl Gore had made campaign fundraising phone calls from theirWhite House offices, as well as into the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy.[9]
Directly after theClinton–Lewinsky scandal came to light, Barr ramped up his efforts to push for Clinton's impeachment, appearing regularly on television, as well as even publishing a scholarly article in theTexas Law Review on the subject.[10] Barr was the first lawmaker in either chamber of theUnited States Congress to call for Clinton's resignation over the scandal.[11] In February 1998, Barr traveled toLos Angeles, at the John Birch Society's expense, to speak to them about his efforts to impeach Clinton.[10] In 1998, after the scandal broke, an additional fourteen congressman co-sponsored the resolution, three of them by early March 1998 and an additional nine in September 1998.[12]
On October 8, 1998, in the aftermath of the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal and a month after the release of theStarr Report, which largely focused on the scandal, an impeachment inquiry was launched. On December 19, 1998, Clinton was impeached on allegations ofperjury andobstruction of justice. Clinton was acquitted in his subsequent trial.[13]
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