The 1804 congressional impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase is both a critical moment in the development of American political institutions and mores and an important case exposing how the Constitution actually operates as a governing institution. The impeachment has traditionally been portrayed in absolutist, personal, and essentially legalistic terms, emphasizing the victory of separation of powers with the acquittal of Chase. A more specifically political analysis of the constitutional issues at stake, however, reveals a more complex set of alternatives and a more subtle outcome. The Senate trial did not result in a clear vindication of Chase's position, but rather established a particular vision of the role of an unelected judiciary in a republican form of government. This vision emphasized the qualified independence of the judiciary from popular control, a relatively adversarial and open courtroom, and the removal of judges from normal, partisan political disputes.