Chunk 44: The Secretary of War defence.

In days of yore, the American Secretary of Defence was known as the Secretary of War. (I assume “Secretary of Attack” was considered a little too aggressive.) One of the most famous, whose name you may have heard being bandied around a bit of late, was William Belknap.

Belknap was Secretary of War to President Ulysses S. Grant. Now, as a rule, I generally disregard any behaviour from a time when people had Christian names like “Ulysses”, but on this occasion, I’ll make an exception.

Belknap, you see, had a taste for the finer things in life. This was all good and dandy, but for the fact that, on his $8,000 government salary, he couldn’t really afford them. So how did he fund those fancy Washington parties and elegant fashions that both his first and second wife so enjoyed?

Simple: kickbacks.

He appointed military traders to the government on the proviso that they would make it worth his financial while. And boy, did they ever, providing Belknap with regular quarterly payments totalling over $20,000 (big money back in the 1870s).

But, in 1876, it all came crumbling down and, just as the US House of Representatives was about to deliver articles of impeachment against him, Belknap raced to the White House, resigned to President Grant and reportedly burst into tears.

What happened next is extremely relevant to the US some 145 years later. Because even though Belknap was no longer in office (like you know who) the Senate still decided to hold an impeachment trial, charging him with “criminally disregarding his duty as Secretary of War and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain”.

Basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain? Honestly, shave him and splash on a bit of orange body paint and this guy could be Trump.

The Senate trial was held and, despite a majority of senators voting to convict, it fell just short of the two-thirds majority required, and Belknap was acquitted. No more celebrations for him though: he died just four years later.

Tomorrow, Donald Trump’s lawyers will begin their argument by claiming that the former president cannot be charged with impeachment because he’s no longer in office. Except, William Belknap’s case already proved that you can be.

Here’s hoping they’ve got a better defence than the former Secretary of War.