■ Should President Clinton deliver the State of the Union address if his trial in the Senate is still pending? If he does, should House members who voted to impeach him, or senators still reserving judgment, listen to him? The answer, in both cases, is yes. While there is no requirement that the president deliver the State of the Union address to Congress in person (19th-century presidents did not, 18th- and most 20th-century presidents did), it is the present custom. Until he is convicted and removed from office, President Clinton is entitled to all the formal respect appertaining thereto. It is out of respect for the office, after all, that his critics wish to remove him from it. Congress should attend, listen courteously—then return to its business, the first order of which is to return Bill Clinton to private life.
■ Another question: Should Senate Democrats endorse censure? Only after resolving the precedential value of the other Senate censure of a chief executive. In 1834, the Whig-led Senate censured Andrew Jackson (the majority questioned the constitutionality of his moves against the Bank of the United States). In January 1837, when Democrats took control of the Senate, they expunged the measure from its records. So, Sens. Lieberman, Daschle, et al: Will yours be a vote for the ages, or for the moment? The episode was so damaging to Jackson’s reputation that Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s 545-page Age of Jackson devotes two sentences to it. Since Prof. Schlesinger unaccountably failed to mention this in his House testimony or full-page newspaper ads, we take the opportunity to advertise his judgment.
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