An accusation of misconduct brought against a person holding public office. The House of Representatives has the sole power to bring charges of impeachment, and the Senate has sole authority to try the case. Conviction requires a two-thirds majority. President Richard Nixon (1913-94) resigned as president in 1974 rather than face impeachment over his part in the Watergate scandal. The only U.S. presidents to be impeached was Andrew Johnson in 1868 and William Jefferson Clinton in 1998. Johnson was acquitted by the Senate. The case against President Bill Clinton followed a report by independent counsel Kenneth Starr that accused Clinton of perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and abuse of power. These were in relation to Clinton's affair with former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Those who supported impeachment of Clinton claimed that any violation by the President of the laws of the country are an impeachable offense, since the President takes an oath to uphold those laws. Others argued that perjury by itself does not rise to the level of a "high crimes" or "misdemeanors" that, according to the Framers of the constitution, was the sole justification for the impeachment of a president.