The Impeachment of Samuel Chase I

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: The impeachment of federal officials has been a relatively rare event in U.S. history. It may or may not flow out of criminal activity, but it is essentially a political act designed to remove persons from office deemed unfit. Considering the intensity of American partisan politics, it is remarkable that impeachment has not been used more often. The founders believed that some mechanism had to be in place to remove from office those guilty of malfeasance - treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Yet, the bar was set very high for impeachment in the House of Representatives and even higher for conviction in the Senate.