Name:____________________________
From the Constitution (Article II, Section 4):
The President, Vice-President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction
of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Historically, while many people have wanted to impeach many presidents, very few actually have. Impeachment simply means that the
president is put on trial, not that he is immediately found guilty. The House of Representatives decides if there is enough evidence to
hold a president (or vice-president) over for trial. The Senate then acts as a jury listening to arguments and evidence and voting on guilt.
House of Representatives
Is there enough evidence of the President committing any
of the crimes listed in Article II, Section 4 of the
Constitution to proceed with a trial?
Yes
Senate
Based on the evidence, did the president commit
the crimes listed in Article II, Section 4?
Yes
Bummer! You will now
be removed from office.
Pack your things – you’ve
just lost your job!
No
Congratulations! You
get to remain in office!
No
Congratulations! You get to
remain in office! But history
books will still say you have
been impeached. 
1. Treason (trying to overthrow your country’s government or helping your country’s enemy during war) and
bribery are very well-defined and understood, but “high crimes and misdemeanors” is bit ambiguous. What do
you think “high crimes and misdemeanors” are? ___________________________________________
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2. Explain the legal, understood definition of “high crimes and misdemeanors” in your own words.
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3. Do you think President Clinton should have been impeached? Why or why not? _______________________
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Presidential Scandals
egregious, adj. – Very obviously
bad
Thomas Jefferson
Andrew Jackson
Ulysses S. Grant
After giving birth
to his daughters,
Thomas Jefferson’s
wife became sick and
died. It is believed that
on her deathbed,
Jefferson promised his
wife that he would
never remarry.
Jefferson didn’t marry
again, but he did have women in his life.
Though we’re not sure when it began exactly
or for how long it continued, we do know that
Jefferson had a sexual liaison1 with his 14year-old slave girl Sally Hemmings. She bore
him at least one son, and possibly others.
Slave masters sometimes used their slaves as
sex slaves without their consent, but it is
unclear from the historical record how
consensual (if at all) the relationship was. On
his deathbed, Jefferson freed Sally
Hemmings’s son, but not Hemmings herself.
As a young lawyer in
Tennessee, Jackson lived in a
boardinghouse, a type of early
cheap hotel where mostly
single men lived and had their
meals prepared for them. After
living there for a time, he
developed an attraction to
Rachel, the female owner. He
never saw a ring, or heard her
speak of her husband, so he
assumed that she was single or perhaps a widow.
When Jackson asked her, she said that she had been
married to a man who was the meanest, most cruel
man she had ever met. She told Jackson that her
husband had gone on a business trip two years ago
and had never returned. At this time period, anyone
gone for that long of a period and never heard from
was assumed to be dead.
Jackson expressed his feelings for her, and
they were soon married. Within a month after their
wedding, her husband reappeared. Rachel and her
first husband divorced quietly, but when Jackson
emerged on the national scene as a contender for the
presidency, the rumors that his wife was a bigamist 1
were spread. Despite Jackson’s denials, the rumors
persisted.
Grant graduated from
the United States Military
Academy at West Point. After
graduation, he was sent to
several isolated military forts
in the west where few people
were and where there was
absolutely nothing to do. To
pass the time, and to dull the
pain of missing his wife,
Grant turned to alcohol and
became quite a drunk. Rather than be reprimanded
for repeated drunkenness, Grant resigned his
commission. He moved to Illinois and proceeded to
open and then close no less than 15 failed
businesses.
When the Civil War broke out in 1860, Grant
was recalled to military service. This recall saved
his life and gave him direction. Grant would go on
to become the most decorated union general in the
war and the supreme commander of Union forces.
Grant became president in 1869. As president,
Grant got himself involved in the Credit Mobilier
scandal. On his watch, under his eyes, under his
leadership, more than 20 million dollars was stolen
and used to bribe government officials at a time
when the average American earned less than $20 a
month.
1. liaison - relationship
1. bigamist – person with two spouses
Grover Cleveland
Warren G. Harding
John F. Kennedy
Cleveland was the
only president to be elected
twice but not twice in a
row. He was elected and
served from 1885-1889 and
then re-elected 4 years later
and served from 18931897. He was also one of
three presidents to be
married while in office. At nearly 50 years old, he
married a much younger 21-year-old woman. Prior
to his first election, his opponents accused him of
fathering an illegitimate child1. At every campaign
stop, Cleveland was greeted with the chant, “Ma,
Ma, where’s my Pa? Off to the White House, ha,
ha, ha!” Though he never admitted it, he did pay
child support to a woman that he had been involved
with as a single lawyer years before. The woman’s
son was named after his law partner with whom she
was also involved, and it was rumored that she was
involved with many other men as well. Some
historians argue that Cleveland paid her child
support because he was the only single man with
whom she was involved.
Warren G. Harding
was elected president in
1920. When he went to
Washington, D.C., he
brought with him what he
called his “Ohio Gang,” a
group of poker playing
friends from his home state.
He installed the Ohio Gang
into positions of power and
prominence in the White House. Every Wednesday
night Harding would sneak out of the White House
to the home of one of his Ohio Gang friends to play
poker, gamble, and meet his girlfriends. On one of
his poker nights, his Secretary of the Interior asked
Harding to sign some papers. It was apparently
fairly late, and Harding was fairly drunk when he
signed away the naval oil reserve at Teapot Dome.
Teapot Dome held all the oil and fuel reserves for
the American naval fleet. Harding’s Secretary of the
Interior and all the members of the Ohio Gang made
a hefty profit.
When the scandal was discovered, Harding
went on a train trip to Alaska to get as far away from
the scandal as possible. On his train trip, Harding
died.
President Kennedy
was the youngest,
arguably the most
handsome, and definitely
one of the most eloquent1
of all our presidents.
President Kennedy had
had numerous affairs
before becoming president
and continued to have affairs after he became
president. He even had a brief affair with the
actress Marilyn Monroe, which became
obvious to America and to his wife Jacqueline
Kennedy when she sang a seductive “Happy
Birthday” to him on his birthday live on
television. It has been recently discovered that
a 19-year-old young woman traveled with him
when President Kennedy was on the road to
serve his sexual needs and “keep him relaxed.”
1. illegitimate child – child born out of wedlock
1. eloquent – well-spoken
Edward (Ted) Kennedy
Richard M. Nixon
Bill Clinton
On July 17th, 1969
Ted Kennedy was driving
Mary Jo Kopechne to the
ferry so that she could return
to the Massachusetts
mainland from Martha’s
Vineyard, a local island. On
the way to the ferry,
Kennedy’s car hit the edge
of a bridge, skidded out of
control, and plunged into the
water. Kennedy, who
escaped from the car as it sank to the bottom of the
river, later claimed that he dove into the water
repeatedly in a valiant1 attempt to rescue her. The
accident happened at approximately 11:15 PM, but
Kennedy didn’t report it until late the next morning.
Kopechne was still in the car. His critics claimed that
he waited so long to report the accident to sober up and
to get his story straight.
At the party the night before, Kennedy had
consumed at least 7 alcoholic beverages. Many were
surprised that Kennedy drove Kopechne himself, since
his driver was at the party and had consumed no
alcohol. It was widely believed that Kennedy planned
to engage in sexual relations with Kopechne, which is
why he volunteered to drive her. Kennedy was never
able to fully explain why it took him so long to go for
help. The accident took place on Chappaquiddick
Bridge and became known as the Chappaquiddick
Incident. Ted Kennedy ran for the democratic
nomination for the presidency several times, but was
denied each time due to the memory of
Chappaquiddick.
One night during
Richard Nixon’s
reelection campaign in
1972, members of his
reelection organization
CRP broke into the
Watergate complex in
Washington, D.C. The
Watergate housed the
Democratic
Headquarters, which the reelection committee
wanted to access. The burglars tried to place
wiretaps on the phones and collect secret
campaign information on Nixon’s opponent,
but they were caught by a security guard and
arrested.
After the arrests, Nixon officials quickly
began to destroy evidence in their possession
that might have linked Nixon to the crime.
During their trial, it was revealed that Nixon
had actively participated in the cover-up of the
crime and had tried to interfere with the federal
investigation. Impeachment seemed likely,
When he was
governor of Arkansas,
Clinton had an affair with
a woman named Gennifer
Flowers. He also had an
affair with a woman
named Paula Jones, who
was a manager of a
Quality Inn Motel. While
he was president, Clinton
also had an ongoing sexual liaison with a 22year-old college intern named Monica
Lewinsky. Clinton lied about the affair with
Lewinsky under oath by claiming he never had
sexual relations with her. It was this affair
with Lewinsky and his lies about it that led to
his impeachment.
1. valiant - brave
but before Congress could move forward
with charges, Nixon resigned in disgrace.
Name:____________________________
Presidential Scandals
egregious, adj. – Very obviously
bad
Provide a brief description of each president’s scandal.
Thomas Jefferson:
Andrew Jackson:
Ulysses S. Grant:
Grover Cleveland:
Warren G. Harding:
John F. Kennedy:
Edward (Ted) Kennedy:
Richard Nixon:
Bill Clinton:
The
Egregious
Ranking – SOLO
Most Egregious
1
Least Egregious
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2. Which political figure’s actions do you believe were most egregious (#1 choice)? Why? Explain.
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3. Which political figure’s actions do you believe were least egregious (#9 choice)? Why? Explain.
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