ABSTRACT
The House Judiciary Committee of the 105th Congress passed four articles of impeachment against President William Jefferson Clinton on a partyline vote. During the House impeachment of Clinton, the president had very high approval ratings, and opinion polls showed that a large majority of Americans opposed his impeachment. Media reports of the impeachment process mirrored the congressional rhetoric: accounts of the impeachment process attributed legislative behavior to both differences of conscience and partisan conflict. This chapter simply provides the basic background of the Clinton impeachment. It presents some key concepts discussed in this book. The book presents a small but representative sample of the polling results from a number of the most prominent media outlets. It includes an analysis of Senate roll call voting on removal that mirrors the House-based analysis. The book analyzes the relationship between constituency opinion, partisanship, and campaign fundraising among House incumbents and their challengers.
