Impeachments and Presidents

The Democratic minority leader of the House, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, says that if the Democrats win a majority he would not rule out impeaching President Trump — again — if the Democrats win a majority this November. He should rule it out.The Constitution authorizes impeachment for “Treason, Bribery, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” No one has been impeached for treason and only three (all federal judges) for bribery. The other 19 impeachments were based on “high crimes,” such as obstruction of justice, and misdemeanors. In the 18th century that word meant both lesser crimes and plain bad behavior. One federal judge was removed for, say, drunkenness.There have been four presidential impeachments in American history. One emerged in 1868 and three in the last 30 years, which is a troubling trend.With President Lincoln’s assassination, Vice President Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat chosen for his loyalty to the Union, had become president. He wanted a quick return of the Southern states to the Union. The Republicans wanted rigorous reconstruction. They tried to reduce Johnson’s freedom of action by such laws as the Tenure of Office Act, which forbade the president from firing cabinet members without the advice and consent of the Senate. When Johnson ignored the obviously unconstitutional act and fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, he was impeached. Tried in the Senate, he was saved from removal by a single vote. Detail of Matthew Brady’s photograph of Lincoln’s second vice president, and successor, Andrew Johnson. Via Wikimedia CommonsNone of the 11 Republican Senators who voted to acquit Johnson ever served again in federal office. Yet public opinion soon shifted strongly against what had obviously been an impeachment based on politics not malfeasance. The possibility of another presidential impeachment would not arise for over a hundred years, until Richard Nixon, embroiled in the Watergate scandal, resigned in 1974 rather than face almost certain impeachment and conviction for obstruction of justice.President Clinton’s extramarital affairs caused the next one. In 1994 he had been sued by Paula Jones for sexual harassment. Mr. Clinton sought to delay the trial until he left the White House, but the Supreme Court ruled against him.In the discovery phase of the suit, Mr. Clinton swore under oath that he had never had sexual relations with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, which turned out to be untrue. He also urged his secretary to testify in that case a certain way.The scandal dominated the news in 1998, and while most felt that Mr. Clinton’s behavior had been, at the least, shameful, it did not cause injury to the country, only to his own reputation. President Clinton giving his State of the Union address on January 19, 1999, at a time when his impeachment trial was pending in the Senate. AP/J.Scott ApplewhiteSo when the Republican House moved to impeach Mr. Clinton for lying under oath and obstruction of justice, the Democrats, although the party holding the White House almost always loses seats in midterm elections, actually picked up seats in the House. The Senate rejected both charges, 45-50, on the perjury charge (10 Republicans voted for acquittal along with all Democrats) and 50-50 on the second, with five Republicans voting for acquittal.Yet while he survived impeachment, Mr. Clinton’s actions caused the Arkansas Supreme Court to fine him $25,000 and suspend his law license for five years. He settled with Ms. Jones, paying her $850,000, and he resigned from the Supreme Court Bar rather than face a disbarment hearing.The unexpected election of Mr. Trump in 2016 caused an eruption of “lawfare” in the Democratic Party, with impeachment being but one aspect of it. In 2019 Mr. Trump was impeached for abuse of power and for obstruction of Congress, a mere misdemeanor.The first article charged that the president had asked for a quid pro quo from the president of Ukraine — an investigation of former Vice President Biden family members, in exchange for continued American aid. Earlier, Mr. Biden, as vice president, had bragged about forcing the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor, whom some have suggested was investigating Hunter Biden, in return for not blocking American aid.Both counts failed to gain even a majority for conviction.After the 2020 election, narrowly won by Mr. Biden, Mr. Trump was blamed for the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, and on January 14 was impeached for incitement of insurrection, although this “insurrection” had had no planning, no leaders, and no weapons.The trial was held after Mr. Trump left office and the now former president was acquitted 57-43.Mr. Trump was reelected president four years later, indicating that the American public think that impeachment should be restricted solely to gross malfeasance in office — to the substantial injury of the country — and not just a part of the normal political give-and-take toolkit.

Impeachments and Presidents

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