Other Senate Cases

A look at the 15 impeachments considered by the Senate:

NAME: William Blount

YEAR/OFFICE: 1799/U.S. senator for Tennessee

CHARGES: Violating U.S.-Spain agreements by conspiring to use frontiersmen and Native Americans to drive the Spanish out of Florida

RESULT: Senate voted to dismiss charges, many citing the fact that Blount had already been expelled from the Senate

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NAME: John Pickering

YEAR/OFFICE: 1803-04/federal judge for New Hampshire

CHARGES: Malfeasance in office; intoxication on the bench; swearing in court

RESULT: Convicted and removed from office on a 19-7 party-line vote

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NAME: Samuel Chase

YEAR/OFFICE: 1804-05/Supreme Court justice

CHARGES: Malfeasance in office; giving a partisan charge to a jury that led to a wrongful conviction in a treason case

RESULT: Acquitted when the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary for removal

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NAME: James H. Peck

YEAR/OFFICE: 1830-31/federal judge for Missouri

CHARGES: Abusing his powers and jailing a journalist who criticized him

RESULT: Acquitted after vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for removal

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NAME: West H. Humphreys

YEAR/OFFICE: 1862/district judge for Tennessee

CHARGES: Supporting secession, acting as a judge for the Confederacy

RESULT: Convicted and removed from office

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NAME: Andrew Johnson

YEAR/OFFICE: 1868/president

CHARGES: Eleven charges, including violating the Tenure of Office Act, which required the president to get Senate approval before firing an official, and causing the Congress to be ridiculed

RESULT: Acquitted after he made concessions on Reconstruction, prompting enough Republicans to break ranks and vote against removal

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NAME: William Belknap

YEAR/OFFICE: 1876/secretary of War during the second term of Ulysses S. Grant

CHARGES: Accepting cash from a political appointee over a six-year period

RESULT: Resigned after the House voted unanimously to impeach. However, he was still tried in the Senate and acquitted when the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed.

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NAME: Charles Swayne

YEAR/OFFICE: 1905/district judge for Florida

CHARGES: Padding expense accounts and using property that was being held in receivership

RESULT: Acquitted after vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for removal

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NAME: Robert W. Archbald

YEAR/OFFICE: 1912-13/commerce judge

CHARGES: Using his position to influence contracts in which he had a hidden financial interest

RESULT: Convicted and removed from office

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NAME: George W. English

YEAR/OFFICE: 1926/district judge for Illinois

CHARGES: Taking an interest-free loan from a bank of which he was director; malperformance

RESULT: Resigned before a vote on the charges was taken

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NAME: Harold Louderback

YEAR/OFFICE: 1933/district judge for California

CHARGES: Appointing allegedly incompetent friends and cronies as bankruptcy receivers

RESULT: Acquitted after vote fell short of a two-thirds majority

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NAME: Halsted L. Ritter

YEAR/OFFICE: 1936/district judge for Florida

CHARGES: Seven charges, including taking a bribe, evading taxes and bringing shame on the court.

RESULT: Convicted of only one charge--that he brought disrepute to the office--and removed by a two-thirds majority

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NAME: Harry E. Claiborne

YEAR/OFFICE: 1986/district judge for Nevada

CHARGES: Income tax evasion

RESULT: Claiborne was serving a prison sentence for a criminal conviction on the tax evasion charges when the Senate voted 87-10 for impeachment

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NAME: Alcee L. Hastings

YEAR/OFFICE: 1989/district judge for Florida

CHARGES: Obstruction of justice

RESULT: Convicted and removed from office. Hastings is now a Democratic member of the House from Florida

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NAME: Walter L. Nixon Jr.

YEAR/OFFICE: 1989/district judge for Mississippi

CHARGES: Perjury

RESULT: Removed from office

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Sources: Congressional Quarterly, wire services, Senate Historical Office; Compiled by TRICIA FORD/Los Angeles Times