These Pictures Show Just How Messy The Clinton Impeachment Was

On Dec. 19, 1998, President Bill Clinton became the second president in US history to be impeached. He was acquitted on all charges in 1999 after the Senate failed to obtain the two-thirds majority required to convict him.

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In September 1998, independent counsel Ken Starr, tasked with investigating the Clintons' real estate ties with the Whitewater Development Corporation, released his report detailing several instances during the investigation in which President Bill Clinton had potentially lied under oath when he was confronted with accusations of an extramarital affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

On Dec. 19, 1998, Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury under oath and obstruction of justice. He became the second president, after Andrew Johnson, to be impeached. He was the third, after Richard Nixon, in which articles of impeachment were brought before the House. With the trial set for January 1999, the following weeks were a cultural circus in which the impeachment proceedings and news of the president's affair dominated politics and pop culture. On Feb. 12, 1999, following a monthlong Senate trial, Clinton was acquitted of all charges after the Senate failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority vote for conviction.

These pictures capture the events that transpired on Capital Hill during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and the profound cultural impact that these events had on the US public.



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