vowed to finish his term.

After nearly 14 hours of debate, the House of Representatives
approved two articles of impeachment against President Bill
Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand
jury and obstructing justice.

On August 17, 1998, President Bill Clinton became the first
sitting president to testify before the Office of Independent
Counsel as the subject of a grand-jury investigation.

The testimony came after a four-year investigation into
Clinton and his wife Hillary’s alleged involvement in several
scandals, including accusations of sexual harassment,
potentially illegal real-estate deals and suspected “cronyism”
involved in the firing of White House travel-agency personnel.

The independent prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, then uncovered
an affair between Clinton and a White House intern named
Monica Lewinsky.

When questioned about the affair, Clinton denied it, which
led Starr to charge the president with perjury and obstruction
of justice, which in turn prompted his testimony on August 17.

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The impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the
United States, was held in the U.S. Senate and concluded with
acquittal on three of eleven charges before adjourning without
a verdict on the remaining charges. It was the first impeachment
trial of a U.S. president and was the sixth federal impeachment
trial in U.S. history. The trial began March 5, 1868, and adjourned
on May 26.

Andrew Johnson (1808 – 1875) 

Thaddeus Stevens delivers the last speech to Congress
about the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 11 articles of
impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, nine
of which cite Johnson’s removal of Secretary of War
Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office
Act. The House vote made President Johnson the first
president to be impeached in U.S. history.

   
Edwin McMasters Stanton
(December 19, 1814 – December 24, 1869)

Pictured is an illustration of Johnson being served
impeachment summons in the White House.

On February 12, 1999, the five-week impeachment trial of Bill
Clinton came to an end, with the Senate voting to acquit the
president on both articles of impeachment: perjury and
obstruction of justice.