Why does the chief justice - not the president of the senate - preside over the impeachment trial of a president?

The chief justice presides over the impeachment trial of a president because the President of the Senate is also the Vice President of the United States. So it wouldn't be fair if the president of the senate does preside.

EXPLANATION

Article 1 Section 2 of the United States Constitution states that the House of Representative shall have the sole power of impeachment. The next line is that the Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. All of the president, the vice president, and even the civil officers of the United States are all subject to impeachment.

The concept of impeachment was first originated from England. Later then, the concept impeachment was adopted by many of the American colonial governments and also state constitutions. The framers considered some possibilities before finally deciding that the Senate should have tried impeachment at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Impeachment is still perceived as a very serious affair. The impeachment is seen as the ultimate weapon for the Congress to be against officials of the federal government. This is also seen as a fundamental component of the system "checks and balances" in the constitutional. In the impeachment process, the House of Representative charges official by approving the majority of the voting result, articles of impeachment.  

The committee of the representative is called the managers, and they will act as prosecutors before the Senate. The courtroom is the Senate's chamber. The Senate will become the judge and the jury except when there's a presidential impeachment trial. The chief of justice will preside the presidential impeachment trials.

LEARN MORE

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, we recommend you to also take a look at the following questions:

President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill's Joint Statement:  

President Clinton's gun control:  

KEYWORD: impeachment, senate, chief justice  

Subject: English

Class: 10-12

Subchapter: Impeachment

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