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It’s been said that there’s no time like the present. But where we are now is often the result of where we’ve been in the past. With that in mind, Briefly Legal invites you to travel back in time to take a look at what happened during this week in legal history:

Bill Clinton established a dubious precedent on Aug. 17, 1998, by becoming the first sitting president to testify before the Office of Independent Council during a grand-jury investigation. Prosecutor Kenneth Starr charged Clinton with perjury and obstruction of justice after Clinton denied having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton that December. He was acquitted after a five-week trial before the Senate.

Aug. 18 marks the 92^nd anniversary of Tennessee’s ratification of the 19^th Amendment, which gave it the two-thirds majority needed to become federal law. The amendment gave women the right to vote, a right suffragists had fought for over more than 70 years. The law was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution on Aug. 26, 1920.

Mahalo to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower for signing the bill that made Hawaii the nation’s 50^th state on Aug. 21, 1959. Eisenhower, who campaigned on including Hawaii and Alaska as states, wanted to add Hawaii first, despite Congress’ opinion that Alaska should be added first because of its rich supply of oil and other natural resources. During the debate, Eisenhower worried that Alaska’s statehood could inhibit his ability to control defense installations nearest to Soviet Russia, while southern Democrats voiced their opposition to admitting Hawaii’s mostly non-white natives into the Union. Alaska was admitted in January, and Hawaii followed in August.

Our thanks to History.com for this week’s legal tidbits.

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