We are a people in a quandary about the present. The fact is that on yesterday, the American people waited with great anxiety for eight hours, not knowing whether their President would obey an order of the Supreme Court of the United States. Barbara Jordan Career Center, formerly Barbara Jordan High School for Careers, is a public vocational school center at 5800 Eastex Freeway (U.S. Highway 59) in Houston, Texas, United States.It is a part of the Houston Independent School District.Prior to July 1, 2018, the school served as its own self-contained secondary school. The stance Jordan takes in the passage is best described as that of A) an idealist setting forth principles. Not only was Jordan one of the younger members of the Judiciary Committee, she was also one of the few women. An analysis of Barbara Jordan's 1976 keynote address. In establishing the division between the two branches of the legislature, the House and the Senate, assigning to the one the right to accuse and to the other the right to judge, the framers of this Constitution were very astute. We are a generous people, so why cant we be generous with each other? Create a better, more engaging experience for every student. Full transcript of Representative Barbara Jordans Keynote Speech at the 1976 DNC on July 12, 1976. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good if we are derelict in upholding the common good. We were further cautioned today that perhaps these proceedings ought to be delayed because certainly there would be new evidence forthcoming from the President of the United States. The President had knowledge that these funds were being paid and that these were funds collected for the 1972 presidential campaign. We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic. (1977). Barbara Jordan: (08:14) How did that demonstrate its significance? In her speech, she mentions that though the Constitution laid by Washington and Hamilton included the phrase "We, the people", they forget to include her. Congress has a lot to do: 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, Nixon Tapes: The Smoking Gun Tape, 1972, http://watergate.info/1974/07/25/barbara-jordan-speech-on-impeachment.html, Barbara Jordan, Speech on Impeachment, July 25, 1974, Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, We, the people. It is a very eloquent beginning. Barbara Jordan: (05:27) The constitutionis the body of doctrines and practices that form the fundamental organizing principle of a political state. She also gave the keynote address in 1992, this time from a wheelchair; she had been afflicted by multiple sclerosis. Impeachment criteria: James Madison, from the Virginia ratification convention. Those who "behave amiss or betray the public trust. What was the purpose of Barbara Jordan's speech? We should now forthwith proceed to answer the question. If that happens, who then will speak for America? It limited impeachment to high crimes and misdemeanors and discounted and opposed the term "maladministration." Barbara Jordan: (04:13) Obstacles emanating from race, sex, economic condition. We know that the President met with Mr. Henry Petersen twenty-seven times to discuss matters related to Watergate, and immediately thereafter met with the very persons who were implicated in the information Mr. Petersen was receiving and transmitting to the President. At this point, I would like to juxtapose a few of the impeachment criteria with some of the actions the President has engaged in. Create a better, more engaging experience for every student. It takes a lot of energy, dedication and bullet-proofing yourself to be: Barbara Jordan: (02:11) The purpose of the speech was to tell the problem that the Constitution had with the wordings. First, we believe in equality for all and privileges for none. The committee subpoena is outstanding, and if the President wants to supply that material, the committee sits here. We've been talking about it awhile now. An analysis of Barbara Jordan's 1976 keynote address. "Prosecutions of impeachments will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community," said Hamilton in the Federalist Papers, no. It is designed to "bridle" the executive if he engages in excesses. We know about the Huston plan. We believe that the government, which represents the authority of all the people, not just one interest group, but all the people, has an obligation to actively underscore, actively seek to remove those obstacles, which would block individual achievement. 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. Barbara Jordan: (17:30) The words are "If the president is connected in any suspicious manner with any person and there be grounds to believe that he will shelter that person, he may be impeached. Richard M. Nixon was televised nationwide. Which is true of Barbara Jordan's "Statement before the House Judiciary Committee on the Articles of Impeachment": 1) Jordan spends much of the speech accusing Republicans of a cover-up. We know the nature of impeachment. Has the President committed offenses and planned and directed and. Let each person do his or her part. The Constitution doesnt say that. Moreover, the President has made public announcements and assertions bearing the Watergate case, which the evidence will show he knew to be false. Jordan was the youngest of three daughters in a close-knit family. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in "We, the people.". ", James Madison again at the Constitutional Convention: "A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution.". Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: "We, the people." "It is designed as a method of national inquest into the conduct of public men." Barbara Jordan: ( 09:55) Impeachment is intended for occasional and extraordinary cases, where a superior power acting for the whole people it's put into operation to protect their rights and rescue their liberties from violations. A man put up billboards all over Houston thanking Jordan for explaining the Constitution.6, Jordan served six years in Congress, then taught at the University of Texas. The powers relating to impeachment are an essential check in the hands of the body of the legislature against and upon the encroachments of the executive. Barbara Jordan: (16:15) At this point, I would like to juxtapose a few of the impeachment criteria with some of the actions the President has engaged in. My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. According to Jordan, how did President Nixon subvert the Constitution? Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-Texas) speaks at the House Judiciary Committee hearings on Watergate, But Ill tell you this, we as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. The style of Barbara Jordan's speech is formal. 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! She mentioned that about 144 years ago that the members of the Democratic Party first met in convention to select a presidential candidate; since then, the democrats have continued to meet once every four years and nominate a presidential candidate. Ibid., 185-86. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men. Her rhetoric was decidedly old-school, shaped by her legal and legislative work, and the fact that she was a groundbreaker as both a woman and an African-American. The Bill of Rights Institute teaches civics. Barbara Jordan, in full Barbara Charline Jordan, (born February 21, 1936, Houston, Texas, U.S.died January 17, 1996, Austin, Texas), American lawyer, educator, and politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives (197379), representing Texas. Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the preamble to the Constitution of United States. We know about the break-in of the psychiatrist's office. My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution. As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Discover why Rev is the #1 speech-to-text service in the world. In other times, I could stand here and give this kind of exposition on the beliefs of the Democratic Party and that would be enough. Easily integrate Rev using our robust APIs to start building your product quickly. Texas columnist Molly Ivins said that Jordan would be the obvious choice in a casting call for the voice of God.2, The youngest of three daughters of a Baptist minister in a poor Houston neighborhood, Jordan attended segregated schools, graduated from the all-black Texas Southern University, and earned a law degree from Boston University in 1959, where she was deeply affected by Howard Thurman, dean of Marsh Chapel. More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future. She then accepted a position at the University of Texas, Austin, where she taught at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs until her death. Despite her absence from Washington, D.C., she remained influential in political affairs. . It is wrong, I suggest, it is a misreading of the Constitution for any member here to assert that for a member to vote for an article of impeachment means that that member must be convinced that the President should be removed from office. We are a people in search of our future. July 25, 1974. Two days after Jordan delivered this speech, the House Judiciary Committee recommended impeachment. Jordan declared she would not be an idle spectator to "the destruction of the Constitution" by Richard Nixon and his administration. Barbara Jordan emerged as an eloquent and powerful interpreter of the Watergate impeachment investigation at a time when many Americans despaired about the Constitution and the country. Following graduation (magna cum laude in 1956), she attended Boston University Law School, where she was one of only two womenboth African Americans from Houstonto graduate. 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