President Clinton has signaled he is not considering resignation. George Stephanopoulos, a former top political insider working for the President, said to Cokie and Sam several Sundays ago that President Clinton would rather be Andrew Johnson than Richard Nixon.
President Nixon resigned before his case got to the Senate jury. President Johnson was so head-strong that he forced a political war.
President Johnson took the oath following the murder of President Lincoln. From 1865 though 1868, Johnson insisted that as the Chief Executive of the nation, he should implement his own Southern Reconstruction ideas rather than the ideas settled on in Congress. Since Johnson was also the Commander-in-Chief, he was able to substitute Generals who would implement his policies by removing generals who followed the will of Congress.
Congress passed a law to protect some in government from being fired by the President without the agreement of the Congress. Johnson fired one of the covered officers, Secretary of War, Stanton, giving Johnson's opponents the constitutional means to impeach him and send the matter to the Senate for trial. The trial lasted for months as competing politically spun stories were argued in the Senate chamber. The arguments sometimes spilled out onto the streets of the nation. But most of the arguments took place in the media and in places where people tend to gather and talk. The battle was bitter. Proponents on each side hardened their positions.
The battle was for political direction and political control of the newly strengthened federal government in a post Civil War world. From the 1830s there had been an ongoing battle in Congress between northern and southern state interests. With the close of the Civil War most of those arguments had been settled. Johnson believed the federal government should have a limited influence in how southern states governed themselves. Congress wanted to extend a more aggressive hand in an effort to legally protect freed slaves and others from the former state governments. Leading northern politicians insisted that those former slave governments be reconstructed in a way that former slaves and other northern friends were able to prosper. Johnson refused to use the federal government to overly influence the southern states' new constitutions.
He made many legislators very angry. When Johnson "broke the law," he was indicted through impeachment and his trial was held in the Senate per the constitution. Had he been convicted by the Senate, he would have been removed from office. Since he had no vice-president, the next man in line was the President pro tempore of the Senate, Benjamin F. Wade. Wade had his own beliefs as to how the federal government should be used. His beliefs included "soft money" and "high tariffs."
In the Senate and in the media, there were arguments over whether Johnson actually violated any law. Was the violated law a constitutional law? Is the quality of evidence in a Senate trial to be the same as in court? Is it good to remove a President? In the end, after all the arguments, the Senate found that removing Johnson meant too much uncertainty and did not convict Andrew Johnson. Johnson had hoped to be nominated by the Democrats to run as their candidate for President in 1868. He was not. By the 1870s Johnson was back in the Senate representing his home state of Tennessee.
If President Clinton would rather be Andrew Johnson, as Stephanopoulos stated, then that must mean the President has his mind set on enduring a Senate trial. Like Johnson, Clinton has handed his opponents the constitutional means of impeachment and trial. Therefore, President Clinton is going before the Senate if he refuses to resign. Depending on the national and international situation some in his own cabinet may publicly turn against him. Positions will harden among the combatants and among the interested citizens. Those who wish Clinton to be out of the Presidency, now, will deliver moralistic sermons and look deep into the Federalist Papers for guidance. Those who wish to maintain Clinton's Presidency will use legalistic language and warn the public about the precedent setting nature of Congress using its constitutional power and removing a President. They will say, it has never been done. Do we want to start now? Do we really want to cite this case as a precedent for removal? After the decision is made, the losing side will feel frustrated and ready to fight again. Nothing will have been settled. Civil behavior while governing the nation will whither.
Is Bill Clinton's battle about to become nation's battle? Clinton's behavior speaks for itself. It is a good excuse for Congress to remove him. But, in the process of removing him, is the nation about to have a verbal civil war? Bill and Hilary Clinton and those who believe as they do are willing to use every means at their disposal to stay in office. They feel compelled to advance their agenda. Without the office, the battle is over.
Bill Clinton has been battling for his social and political programs since long before he got to Washington. His opponents believe that Clinton is for "big government" and policies which they abhor. They wanted him stopped in 1996 but couldn't get Dole elected. Now they see another chance to remove him from office.
Others in the Senate who are more neutral, will only look at the facts and make a political judgment when it comes time to vote. Clinton's behavior has become an issue which they too could use to bring him down. His conviction or exoneration will be decided by those few middle-of-the-road Senators.
Unlike 1868 when Johnson was tried, there is presently a constitutionally elected successor to the President. A successor whose policies will be close to Clinton's policies. If Clinton resigns or is convicted, the transition to a President Gore will not shock America. If Gore becomes President after January 20, 1999, the balance of Clinton's term will not count against him. He could constitutionally run twice more for President and could be in office as long as ten years.
In the upcoming battle, Bill Clinton will unleash all his forces in an effort to keep himself in office. Having had access to those 900 republican FBI files is probably helping. The raw data in there might be enough to stop some Representatives and Senators from voting against the President, fearing being destroyed by the press. The ugly story about Henry Hyde was clearly a body blow designed to remind anyone in opposition to Clinton's presidency what could happen to them.
That sort of behavior is exactly what needs to be removed from politics. If this president is using that kind of muscle, he is to be as feared as Nixon.
Bill Clinton has admitted his acts. It looks like he lied while under oath, twice. Now it's up to the country to decide what we want Congress to do about it.
Lee A. Presser
