That for the trial of an impeachment of the President this court must be
constituted of the members of the Senate, with the Chief Justice
presiding, seems equally unquestionable.
The Federalist is regarded as the highest contemporary authority on the
construction of the Constitution, and in the sixty-fourth number the
functions of the Senate "sitting in their judicial capacity as a court
for the trial of impeachments" are examined.
In a paragraph explaining the reasons for not uniting "the Supreme Court
with the Senate in the formation of the court of impeachments" it is
observed that--
To a certain extent the benefits of that union will be obtained from
making the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court the president of the court
of impeachments, as is proposed by the plan of the Convention, while the
inconveniences of an entire incorporation of the former into the latter
will be substantially avoided. This was, perhaps, the prudent mean.
This authority seems to leave no doubt upon either of the propositions
just stated; and the statement of them will serve to introduce the
question upon which I think it my duty to state the result of my
reflections to the Senate, namely, At what period, in the case of
an impeachment of the President, should the court of impeachment be
organized under oath, as directed by the Constitution?
It will readily suggest itself to anyone who reflects upon the abilities
and the learning in the law which distinguish so many Senators that
besides the reason assigned in the Federalist there must have been still
another for the provision requiring the Chief Justice to preside in the
court of impeachment.
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