Only three presidents have been impeached, Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. All the presidents’ impeachments were self inflicted by behavior that led the Congress to charge each with “High Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
Here you will find brief descriptions of the three impeachments, with details about the trials of Johnson and Clinton.
The impeachment trial for Donald J. Trump begins on January 21, 2020.
The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was impeached February 24, 1868 by the United States House of Representatives for high crimes and misdemeanors. There were 11 articles of impeachment.
The main charge against Johnson was violation of the Tenure of Office Act, which was passed by Congress in 1877, over his veto. It was intended to limit the power of the president from removing an executive officer without consent of the Senate.
The impeachment was the result of Johnson’s removal of Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of war—whom the act was passed to protect. Johnson then tried to slip Major General Lorenzo Thomas into office while the Congress was not in session.
Johnson became president with Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in the Ford Theatre on April 15, 1865. Johnson was not qualified for the vice-presidendency. Lincoln, however, thought he would bolster is re-election campaign of 1864 because Johnson was a senator from Tennessee, a state that did succed, but Johnson remained in the senate. Oddly, the Republicans nominated Johnson, a Democrat and Southerner for Vice President.
Johnson was the first American president to be impeached. The trial began in the Senate on March 6, with Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presiding.
The senate failed to convict Johnson, although there was a 35 – 19 vote to convict him, it was shy by one vote. They continued the trial, trying to convict him on two additional articles of impeachment, but ended with the same result as the vote on the first article.
The senate called it quits and adjourned leaving Johnson in office.
The Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998 by the United States House of Representatives for high crimes and misdemeanors. The primary charges were lying under oath and obstruction of justice. Paula Jones had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton, and from his testimony denying a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
The House Judiciary hired Ken Starr to prepare an independent report (the Starr Report).
Oddly, Ken Starr, who was outed as president of Baylor University, has been hired by the Trump Administration as one of the lawyers in the Trump impeachment trial. He also steadfastly insisted that further documents and witnesses should be part of the Clinton senate impeachment trial.
The Clinton trial in the senate began in January, 1999 with Chief Justice William Rehnquist presiding. On February 12, Clinton was acquitted on both articles of impeachment. On the first article, the vote was 45 – 55 to convict. On the second, the vote was 50 – 50. Clinton remained in office.
The Impeachment of Donald Trump
Donald Trump was impeached on December 18, 2019 by the House of Representatives. The House approved two articles of impeachment against Trump. The House inquiry found that Trump had solicited foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election to help in his re-election bid. Trump then obstructed the inquiry by instructing his administration to ignore any requests for subpoenas of testimony or documents.
The House inquiry reported that Trump withheld military aid and an invitation to the White House to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in order to influence Ukraine to announce an investigation of Trump’s political opponent, Joe Biden, and to promote a discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Two articles of impeachment (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/10/us/politics/articles-impeachment-document-pdf.html) were approved including charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The impeachment of Trump came in the wake of an August 2019 whistleblower complaint claiming that the president abused his power. Three House Committees deposed witnesses and held public hearings on television. Twitter Trump actually interfered in the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch in real time, and had things to say about other testimonies.
On January 16, 2020, the impeachment articles were marched to the Senate by the House Clerk Cheryl L. Johnson, followed by seven impeachment managers (Congressional representatives). Representative Adam Schiff read the articles of impeachment.
Since the delivery of the articles of impeachment, Trump’s defense team has hired three additional people to their team, including Alan Dershowitz, and Bill Clinton special prosecutors Ken Starr, and Robert Ray.
Dershowitz claims he is an impartial team member and will deliver his pat speech on why impeachment of any president is “unconstitutional.” I don’t believe him for one minute.
I heard him on CNN last night, and he claims he is really not working for Trump, but for the constitution. That is simply BS. He is actually a witness for Trump, and I can’t believe that he will be allowed to speak, without some other legal mind talking about why it is constitutional to impeach any president. Remember, we’ve done it twice before.
Summary Impeachable, Yes. Guilty, Yes.
In my own opinion, Trump’s presidency has been an impeachable event. I named him The Authoritarian on November 24, 2016, and described why I believed his presidency would harm America.
The evidence that has accumulated since he became president clearly shows him to be a loser, a betrayer of trust, corrupt and a liar.
The articles of impeachment are solid reminders that no president is above the law. Although impeachment trials normally end with senators voting along party affiliations, we can only hope and pray that some will break from this precedent.
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