# William Belknap Grant administration Secretary of War, impeached in 1876 over a kickback scheme involving the sale of a lucrative Indian-post tradership at Fort Sill. He resigned hours before the House vote — and the House impeached him anyway. ## Why he matters here Belknap is the origin of the **late-impeachment question**: can Congress try an officer who has already left office, purely to disqualify him from future office? The Senate voted that it **did have jurisdiction** over a former officer, held the trial — and then acquitted, with a bloc of senators explaining that they voted not guilty precisely *because* they doubted the jurisdiction they had just voted to assert. The same fact pattern recurred in 2021: the Senate voted 56–44 that trying a former president was constitutional, then acquitted, with acquitting senators citing jurisdiction ([[Trump Second Impeachment]]). He was also the **last cabinet officer impeached before [[Alejandro Mayorkas]] in 2024** — a 148-year gap. ## See also - [[Impeachment and Removal Process Flow]] - [[Trump Second Impeachment]] - [[Elite Impunity]]