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Today in History: President Clinton Is Acquitted in His Impeachment Trial
02/12/10
On February 12, 1999, President Bill Clinton’s historic impeachment trial concluded in an acquittal by the U.S. Senate. The Senators found Clinton not guilty by a vote of 55-45 on the charge of perjury, and by a vote of 50-50 on the charge of obstruction of justice. Under the U.S. Constitution, a two-thirds majority vote was required to find the president guilty of a crime and remove him from office.
The impeachment of Clinton stemmed from a wide-ranging investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr into the president’s financial dealings and personal life. During this investigation, Starr uncovered evidence suggesting that Clinton had a sexual relationship with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. Clinton denied that such a relationship existed in testimony before a grand jury.
On December 19, 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives voted largely along party lines to pursue two articles of impeachment against Clinton. He thus became only the second U.S. president—after Andrew Johnson in 1868—to face impeachment. The trial before the Senate began on January 7, 1999, with Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist presiding. It attracted worldwide media attention over the next five weeks before concluding in Clinton’s acquittal.