University of North Carolina School of Law Carolina Law Scholarship Repository Faculty Publications Faculty Scholarship 2000 The iH storical and Constitutional Significance of the Impeachment and Trial of President Clinton Michael J. Gerhardt University of North Carolina School of Law,
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[email protected]. THE IllSTORICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE IMPEACIDviENT AND TRIAL OF PRESIDENT CLINTON Michael J. Gerhardt* I. INTRODUCTION The impeachment and trial of President William Jefferson Clinton are not over. To be sure, roughly two months after the House of Repre sentatives had impeached the President for perjury and obstruction of justice,1 the Senate fully acquitted the President.2 The challenge re mains, however, for historians, constitutional scholars, political scien tists, and others to assess the reasons for, and ramifications of, the President's impeachment proceedings. * Professor of Law, The College of William & Mary; Visiting Professor, Duke Law School (Spring 2000). I am grateful to have had the chances to refine my thiuking about the sub ject matter of this Essay in conversations over the past eight months with Alex Aleinikoff, Akhil Reed Amar, Michael Les Benedict, Susan Low Bloch, David Broder, Robert Dailek, Walter Del linger, Neal Devins, Father Robert Drinan, Michael Fitts, Deboralt Gerhardt, Jeff Greenfield, Thomas Griffith, Ron Kahn, Neil Kiukopf, Mike Klarman, Alan Meese, John McGinnis, Thomas Merrill, Glenn Reynolds, Michael Remington, Michael Stokes Paulsen, Chris Schroeder, Paul Schwartz, and Laurence Tribe.