"The President, Vice President and
all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office
on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other
high crimes and misdemeanors."
—Constitution of the United States
of America, Article 2, Section 4
WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?
The founders called them “high crimes and misdemeanors”
instead of “misadministration” because in many cases
they were crimes that could not be committed by anyone but the person
in such a high position, and thus did not always exist in the legal
statutes. They were thinking of crimes against the Constitution
and against the state. This included violations of the official
oaths of office to “protect and defend the Constitution against
all enemies, foreign or domestic.” These usurpations of power
could be best dealt with by charging, trying and removing officials
from office, rather than constantly overthrowing them. Impeachments
had a long history in British law and procedure by then, but did
not extend to the monarchs and kings, only their officers. After
the Revolution, Americans extended the scope of this “heroic
medicine” to include its highest officicals: the President
and Vice President.
