ABSTRACT
In general, popular treatments of the William Jefferson Clinton impeachment highlight the distinctiveness of the handling of impeachment by the House of Representatives and the trial by the Senate. Conviction on impeachment charges results in the removal from office of a popular president and may engender a serious constitutional crisis. Conviction by the Senate also required a much larger majority of the voting membership than impeachment by the House. Research on roll call voting in the House and Senate indicates that the difference in electoral timeframe has important implications for institutional decision making. Institutional differences between the House and the Senate do not tell the full story of each chamber's handling of the Clinton impeachment. The state-level estimates of public opposition to the Clinton impeachment are just as striking as the district-level estimates generated for the House of Representatives.
