This Day in History: President Clinton Is Impeached (Sunday, December 19)

This Day in History:, President Clinton Is Impeached.

December 19, 1998.

The House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.

Clinton had been charged with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice.

As only the second president in U.S. history to be impeached at the time, the president vowed to finish his term.

The charges emerged from a White House affair between Clinton and a 21-year-old unpaid intern, Monica Lewinsky.

Initially, Clinton denied the affair, famously saying, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.”.

Months later, Clinton admitted to the affair in a grand jury testimony and publicly via a four-minute televised address from the White House.

After special counsel Kenneth Starr's report recommending impeachment, the House conducted an impeachment inquiry.

Three articles of impeachment were approved following nearly 14 hours of debate