GERALD R. FORD ON IMPEACHMENT

Before we get too warm and fuzzy about Ford, let's remember that he tried to have Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas impeached and gave an unprincipled definition of what is an impeachable offense:

What, then, is an impeachable offense?

The only honest answer is that an impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers to be at a given moment in history; ...


From Gerald Ford's Remarks on the Impeachment of Supreme Court Justice William Douglas, April 15, 1970.

There is no attempt to develop an abstract and principled definition. Thus, Ford laid the groundwork for the impeachment of Clinton.

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