A Letter From The Publisher, Aug. 5, 1974

• Share

Back in the fall of 1972, impeachment was a word uttered reticently, if at all, in connection with Watergate, and Senior Congressional Correspondent Neil MacNeil heard it only "occasionally from a Democratic Congressman here and there." Yet MacNeil, a veteran of 24 years on the Hill, soon became convinced that there was a most serious scandal afoot in the White House and that the House would ultimately look to its impeachment processes. Early last summer House Majority Leader "Tip" O'Neill, impressed with John Dean's testimony, alerted Peter Rodino to get ready for impeachment. MacNeil was privy to this behind-the-scenes preparation and when, after the Saturday Night Massacre in October, Speaker Carl Albert directed Rodino to act, MacNeil immediately grasped the gravity of the situation and so advised the editors. Thus TIME ran its cover story "The Push to Impeach" on Nov. 5, at a time when much of the country and press had yet to take the prospect seriously.

MacNeil, whose library includes more than 70 books on impeachment, had often wondered whether the procedure laid down by the founding fathers was still viable after a long period of disuse.

In the last few months he has been reassured that if necessary, it can be made to work.

"To date the House has been able to confirm that the founders were wiser on impeachment than I had earlier concluded. The members of the committee have performed —all of them—with remarkable diligence. Attendance at all sessions is stunning. The proceedings have been on the whole a credit to Congress on all sides."

To MacNeil's credit, four weeks ago he predicted accurately that from 25 to 29 Congressmen on the committee would vote for impeachment. Similarly, Correspondent David Beckwith, our Washington bureau's lawyer-in-residence who covers the Supreme Court, reported for our July 22 cover story that the court would probably try to rule unanimously—despite its division on some of the issues —in the case of the President's tapes, an assessment that last week proved right on the mark. Beckwith customarily interviews scholars, fellow lawyers and "anyone else with good information about the court's activities," but the Justices themselves, while sometimes willing to talk generally on a background basis, keep their backstage deliberations private. "Far less is known about the Judiciary than either of the other two branches of Government," says Beckwith, "largely because the Judiciary wants it that way. This makes covering the courts an exceptional challenge."