The House is set to make history on Tuesday by voting on the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. If the measure draws enough support, it would be only the second time a cabinet member has even been impeached. The first time happened almost 150 years ago with William Belknap, President Ulysses Grant's Secretary of War who found himself caught up in a brazen kickback scheme at a time of unparalleled economic expansion, few regulations and too many temptations.
Belknap's downfall was his decision to abuse his authority to appoint sutlers or civilian merchants who ran trading posts that served military outposts. At the urging of his second wife, Carita, Belknap named a New York businessman who was married to Carlita's close friend, Caleb Marsh, to run the trading post at Fort Sill in the Oklahoma territory. However, Fort Sill already had a trader, John Evans, who did not want to relinquish the post. A compromise was reached via a generous kickback. Evans was to pay Marsh for the privilege of sharing the post. Since Marsh was indebted to the Belknap's for giving him the lucrative job, he agreed to split the pay-off money with Carita.
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