NEW YORK (AllPolitics, December 21) -- Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford called Monday for an end to the impeachment proceeding against President Bill Clinton. Saying impeachment has brought "profound disgrace" to Clinton and a "grievous and deepening wound" to the country, the two former presidents appealed to the Senate for a bipartisan censure resolution.

Carter

"Make no mistake, the judgment of history does matter," Carter and Ford wrote in an op-ed piece in The New York Times. "It matters profoundly. And impeachment by the full House has already brought profound disgrace to President Clinton. Whatever happens now will do little to affect history's judgment of him."

On Saturday, Clinton became only the second president ever and the first elected president to suffer impeachment by the House of Representatives. His case now moves to the Senate.

Carter and Ford said a bipartisan Senate resolution of censure should require Clinton to accept the findings in the resolution. But the compromise would also provide that the statement of acceptance would not become evidence in any future criminal proceedings.

"It may even be possible for the special prosecutor publicly to forgo the option of bringing such charges against the president when Mr. Clinton leaves office," they wrote.

Following a highly partisan debate and a vote mostly along party lines, lawmakers approved two articles of impeachment Saturday alleging perjury and obstruction of justice in the president's efforts to cover up his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Ford

Although Clinton has vowed to remain in office and recent polls show he enjoys a high level of public support, the matter now goes before the Senate, which could hold a trial and remove him from office with a two-thirds majority.

But the White House has indicated Clinton hopes to avoid a trial through some alternative means of punishment.

The two former presidents cautioned the Senate that Clinton "is not alone in standing before the bar of judgment. Our political system, too, is on trial."

"Our political institutions are called into question. Public confidence erodes under waves of personal smearmongering. Against such a backdrop of inflamed emotions, we are convinced that the public good requires a prompt and fair resolution of the impeachment issue," the two wrote.

Carter and Ford do not agree with those who believe a censure is unconstitutional, saying the Senate can "end this national ordeal" without violating the rule of law or further damaging the presidency.

"Before the senators make history, we hope they will first turn to history for help in devising what would be, in effect, a unique punishment for a unique set of offenses," they wrote.

In making their joint appeal, both men noted controversial decisions they made to heal national divisions. Carter, a Democrat, granted amnesty to those who avoided the Vietnam War draft. And Ford, a Republican, pardoned President Richard Nixon after his resignation for his actions in the Watergate scandal.

In 1976 Carter defeated then-President Ford in a close race, many believe because of Ford's decision to pardon Nixon in 1974.

Monday, December 21, 1998

• White House weighs impeachment trial strategy
• Carter, Ford urge censure for Clinton
• Most don't want Clinton trial
• Community service for Clintons
• JFK's daughter favors censure
• Livingston's district to lose clout
• Sen. Warner embracing new committee post

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