Impeached.

10. RESPECTING IMPEACHMENT.

By the United States Constitution, the persons who Who may be may be impeached are the president, vicepresident, and all civil officers of the United States. The term "civil officers" includes all executive and judicial officers of the national government, except those of the army and navy. The members of Congress are not considered United States officers. Civil officers of the States are liable to impeachment by the State legislatures.

The offences for which the United States officers Impeachable may be impeached are treason, bribery, Offences and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Treason is defined by the Constitution itself; and the other offences are determined according to the principles of parliamentary usage and the common law. In the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, in 1868, the offences charged were, the unlawful removal from office of the secretary of war, the appointment of another person to the same office, and the forcible attempt to obtain possession of the war'department. These were called high crimes and misdemeanors.

Mode of Impeachment.

The Constitution gives to the house of representatives the sole power of impeachment. The steps in the process are as follows: 1. A resolution to impeach, naming the person and his office and the offence. 2. The appointment of a committee, who appear before the senate, and, in the name of the house of representatives and the people of the United States, make the impeachment, and demand that the accused be summoned to answer the charges. 3. The appointment of a committee to prepare articles

of impeachment. 4. The appointment of a committee of managers to act for the house of representatives in the trial.

The Trial.

The senate has the sole power to try impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, the members are required to be on oath or affirmation. When the president of the United States is tried, the chief justice of the supreme court presides. The senate establishes rules to govern its procedure. The whole house of representatives appears before the senate, and the managers present the articles of impeachment. A day is fixed for the trial, and then the proceedings follow as in a court of justice. After the evidence has been presented, and the arguments of the managers and of the defendant's counsel have been made, each senator is required to answer "Guilty," or "Not guilty," to each of the articles. The Constitution requires for conviction the concurrence of two-thirds of the senators present.

The Constitution provides that "judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualifi

Judgment.

cation to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law." Thus a person convicted of treason by the senate could, in consequence of that conviction, only be removed from office, and disqualified from future office-holding; but he might be tried for the same offence before a court of justice, and, if convicted, be sentenced to death.

CHAPTER XXX.

THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT.

1. AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.

THE president is commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the States when in the actual service of the United States. In the exercise of this power, he appoints and removes officers, assigns their stations and duties, and directs the movements of the forces.

2. RESPECTING PARDONS.

He has power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. A reprieve is the withdrawing of a sentence for an interval of time, thereby delaying execution.

Definition of
Treaty.

3. RESPECTING TREATIES.

He has power, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur. A treaty is a compact between two or more independent nations, with a view to the public welfare. The principal subjects of treaties are peace, alliance, territory, boundaries, the settle

Subjects.

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ment of claims, redress of grievances, commerce, navigation, naturalization, and the giving-up of fugitives from justice. Treaties on the last subject are called "extradition treaties."

Formation.

Treaties are usually made by agents representing the two governments, the agent of the United States being under the direction of the president. The papers are then laid before the senate, and discussed, where the treaty may be amended, accepted, or rejected. Any amendment must be ac-. cepted by the president and by the other government. As the Constitution declares that treaties, as well as the Constitution itself, are the supreme law of the land, the making of treaties is both legislative and executive business: hence the propriety of investing the senate with a share of the power.

4. RESPECTING APPOINTMENTS.

Extent of

Power.

The president is required to nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointment is not otherwise provided for in the Constitution, and which are established by law. But Congress has the power to vest the appointment of such inferior officers as it thinks proper in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The filling of an office by the president includes four steps: a nomination in writing by the

president, a vote to confirm by the senate,

Process.

the appointment by the president, and the issuing of a

commission signed by the president, and sealed with the seal of the United States.

The power of removal from office has until recently been supposed to be wholly in the hands

Removals.

of the president; but now a law requires the consent of the senate to removals, as well as appointments. During a recess of the senate, the president may suspend an officer, except a judge of a United States Court, until the end of the next session of the senate, and may appoint a person to fill the temporary vacancy. But, within thirty days after the commencement of the next session of Congress, he must nominate a person for permanent appointment.

Public Ministers.

The president has the power to appoint ambassadors and other public ministers. A Minister is a person sent by a government to represent it in the transaction of business with another government. The term includes officers of various grades. They are called diplomatic agents. It is customary for civilized nations to send representatives to all those foreign nations with whom they desire to maintain friendly intercourse. These officers usually live at the capital of the country to which they are sent. They are supported by their own government, and report to it all matters that concern its interests. Through them business is transacted and courtesies are exchanged. The United States sends ministers with the following titles: minister-plenipotentiary and envoy-extraordinary, minister-resident, and chargé-d'affaires. The Constitution requires the president to receive ambassadors and foreign ministers.

The president also appoints consuls. A consul is a commercial agent appointed by a government to reside