CBS World News Roundup + President’s Weekly Radio Address – December 13, 1997 – KNX, Los Angeles – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
With all the current talk about impeachment on Capitol Hill, realizing history very often repeats itself and very often repeats itself frequently, news of another impeachment, this one from 1997 and this one dealing with President Clinton.
On this day in 1997 the economy was booming, unemployment was down and President Clinton’s poll numbers were up. So why do so many people want to impeach him? Unwilling to wait for the final three years on Clinton’s White House lease, 19 House Republicans are pushing for his eviction. Anti-Clinton activists say they have collected more than 1 million expressions of support for the idea. Clinton’s critics conceded they were a long way from booting him out of office. GOP congressional leaders, who said the impeachment effort was premature, showed no interest in pursuing the issue.
But nothing seemed to dampen the intensity of feeling among Clinton’s critics. After five years in office, the president remained a polarizing figure, admired by many, despised by others.
On this day, the Fourth Article of Impeachment was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, putting the trial one step close to becoming a reality.
Clinton and his advisers dismissed impeachment talk as the ramblings of political extremists. At this point in his presidency, Clinton seemed far more concerned about his place in history than the likelihood he would become the first president removed from office.
In other news, President Clinton was heading to the Middle-east to try and sort out the latest set of peace proposals which were looking to be derailed. Even so, he was looking for support from lawmakers before the scheduled vote on impeachment in the coming week.
All that, and President Clinton’s weekly message for this December 13, 1997 as presented by CBS Radio.
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