2 Presidents With Similar Foes

More than a century has gone by since the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, but the proceedings have many striking similarities to President Clinton's trial, which began Thursday in the Senate chambers.

The pomp and circumstance of the trial's opening ceremonies are unremarkable, says Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University in Washington, D.C.

What is interesting, Lichtman says, is that the only other president to reach the impeachment trial stage shares a common antagonist with his historical predecessor: the Republican Party.

Johnson, a Democrat, took office after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, who was a Republican. Lichtman says that the "partisan rancor" of today was also visible at that time, as Lincoln's Republicans sought to oust a Democrat from the highest office.

"In 1868, they didn't even get through the swearing in without having a squabble," Lichtman says.

Then, as now, the trial was about political issues. But the stakes were higher, Lichtman says, and the issues were more serious. At the time, the nation had just gone through the Civil War.

"Not all the southern states were back in the union. The question of civil and political rights for African-Americans was hanging in the balance," Lichtman says.

The Republicans wanted to continue with Reconstruction, which the Democrats opposed.

On the other hand, President Clinton's trial seems to be more a product of political in-fighting at worst; at best, it may be a new test and reaffirmation of the Constitution.

"I don't think anyone has the sense here about the same huge issues hanging in the balance of this trial," Lichtman says.

Johnson was spared from being removed in office - just one vote shy of the necessary two-thirds majority.

Two precedents set in the Johnson trial may help shape Mr. Clinton's. First, witnesses were called, even though there was no disagreement on the facts of the case - everyone knew Johnson had fired his Secretary of War. Secondly, the trial was adjourned before all the impeachment counts were heard.

"When the trial of Andrew Johnson began, the conventional wisdom was that he would be removed," Lichtman says. "His Republican enemies had over 70 percent of the Senate -- more than enough votes to convict."

While there were eleven Articles of Impeachment against Johnson, the Senate only voted on the first three, which they deemed most likely to be passed. When those were vetoed, they adjourned instead of voting on the remaining eight articles.

"In fact, it was the Republican prosecutors then who wanted a quick trial because they presumed in a quick trial they would vote to remove," says Lichtman. "However, the trial went on for some time, and eventually, he was acquitted."

Regardless of how the process unfolds, Lichtman believes that the status of the presidency will be affected by the current trial. Since the invetigation of President Clinton began, the post has lost several of its legal protections, such as executive privilege. It is now easier for the courts to issue subpoenas, which can weaken the presidency by allowing political struggles to merge with legal processes.

Nevertheless, Lichtman says that the Constitution has withstood the political tests of time, and can survive even the bitterest of partisan debates.