Impeachment Expert Available to Talk to Media

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MACON – If the Democrats win control of the Senate in November, will they be seeking payback for the Clinton impeachment and set out to impeach Bush? Buck Melton Jr., J.D., Ph.D., writer-in-residence at Mercer University, says it is not likely, and even if it happened, he is almost certain Bush would not to be convicted. Melton says that originally, impeachment was highly politicized and partisan, although it was not designed by the framers of the Constitution to be political. Melton also says that modern American politics is as polarized as ever, and points to Watergate and Vietnam as a turning point that energized extreme elements.

Melton’s research area of expertise is judicial and presidential impeachment; he also is knowledgeable in the subjects of separation of powers and constitutional issues of national security. He has consulted with several members of Congress, including Bob Barr, Saxby Chambliss, Max Cleland, Asa Hutchinson, and Henry Hyde, about the definition of impeachable offenses. He has also attended impeachments in the past, and advised the U.S. Senate’s Office of Legal Counsel in an impeachment.

Besides earning a law degree from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Melton holds a doctorate in constitutional history from Duke University. He has written a number of books, including The First Impeachment: The Constitution’s Framers and the Case of Senator William Blount, A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers, and Aaron Burr: The Rise and Fall of an American Politician. His latest book, Sea Cobra: Admiral Halsey’s Task Force and the Great Pacific Typhoon, examines one of the costliest battles of World War II.

Melton, who has appeared on C-SPAN2, CNBC, MSNBC and National Public Radio, can be reached by phone at 478-301-2343 or by e-mail at melton_bf@mercer.edu.