Question

"Barbara Jordan Remarks on Impeachment, July, 1974"
by Barbara Jordan

James Madison again at the Constitutional Convention: "A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution." The Constitution charges the President with the task of taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, and yet the President has counseled his aides to commit perjury, willfully disregard the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, conceal surreptitious entry, attempt to compromise a federal judge, while publicly displaying his cooperation with the processes of criminal justice. "A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution."

If the impeachment provision in the Constitution of the United States will not reach the offenses charged here, then perhaps that 18th-century Constitution should be abandoned to a 20th-century paper shredder!

Has the President committed offenses, and planned, and directed, and acquiesced in a course of conduct which the Constitution will not tolerate? That's the question. We know that. We know the question. We should now forthwith proceed to answer the question. It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.



Rep. Barbara Jordan's remarks on impeachment during Watergate

Use the passage to answer the question.

Why does the author mainly include allusions in the passage?

(1 point)

to add style and beauty to her argument

to show her respect for James Madison

to demonstrate her knowledge of the Constitution

to support her argument about the president’s impeachment

Answer 1

to support her argument about the president’s impeachment

The allusion to James Madison and the Constitution strengthens her claim that the president’s actions meet the constitutional standard for impeachment.