An excerpt from Splice Today‘s review of Impeachment: An American History
Written by Matthew Surridge
Modern Relevance in Impeachment: An American History
Now that Democrats control the House of Representatives, the impeachment of President Trump is no longer far-fetched. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s yet to strongly push the idea, though some are more enthusiastic. Pelosi’s playing it smart: impeachment’s a political process, and you can’t look too eager to override the will of the people. But this raises the question of why impeachment exists at all. Why should Congress get to second-guess the voters, under any circumstances? And what exactly are “high crimes and misdemeanors?”
Jeffrey A. Engel provides some answers in a recent book, Impeachment: An American History. It’s a set of four essays by different scholars examining the impeachment process’s history; as well as editing the book, Engel wrote one of the essays, the introduction, and a conclusion. It’s clearly been put together with the intention of being relevant to the current moment, and succeeds admirably.