However, James Madison, the father of our Constitution, did speak of bad behavior and impeachment, which would suggest a president could be impeached on something less than treason. Writing at the time, a correspondent suggested abuse of power as impeachable. Obviously, there was debate over how serious impeachable offenses should be, but surely President Clinton is guilty of misconduct and violating public trust. This would imply treason rather than personal corruption. What all this suggests is that there is no absolute guideline for what constitutes an impeachable offense.
Presidents lie to the public all the time.
Clinton lied after taking an oath to tell the truth. The greater offense, I believe, may be his corrupt and immoral approach to life, and it may be that this is what gnaws at the hearts of many in Congress. Many presidents have been morally corrupt, but since Richard Nixon we have sought in our presidents a higher standard of integrity and honesty, particularly since many in the baby boomer generation seem to have lost their bearings. Thus many in Congress were particularly hard on Reagan and Bush during the Iran-Contra scandal and we have gone back to condemn Kennedy for his excesses of power and recklessness, both in running the government and in his personal life. This desire that we must expect more of our presidents and that they must lead by example and bring this nation back from its profligacy has come to a head in the Clinton Administration.