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From impeachment’s high solemnity to high farce

Political Theater, Episode 98

House Judiciary Chairman Henry J. Hyde presided over the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton in 1998. At left is the portrait of Peter Rodino, the Judiciary chairman when the committee approved impeachment articles against President Richard Nixon.(Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call file photo)
House Judiciary Chairman Henry J. Hyde presided over the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton in 1998. At left is the portrait of Peter Rodino, the Judiciary chairman when the committee approved impeachment articles against President Richard Nixon.(Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call file photo)

From lawmakers struggling with the “high solemnity” of their votes to impeach Richard Nixon in 1974 to the “high farce” of the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, each impeachment episode has its own distinct identity, according to CQ Roll Call contributor Finlay Lewis. 

In the latest Political Theater podcast, Lewis discusses his own coverage of Watergate for the Minneapolis Tribune and of the Clinton impeachment for Copley News. As the country gears up for another impeachment inquiry, there are some important echoes that Americans might want to heed. Sometimes things start with a so-called third-rate burglary. Sometimes they start with some weird real estate transactions in Arkansas. And sometimes they start with a phone call to Ukraine. Where they end can be anyone’s guess.

Show Notes: 

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