Presidential Impeachment Cases

The architects of the U.S. Constitution adopted the impeachment process from England. In England, the House of Commons has the authority to impeach government officials, while the House of Lords decides on conviction or acquittal. At the Constitutional Convention, James Madison advocated for including an impeachment mechanism in the Constitution, deeming it an "indispensable" safeguard against unfit leaders.

In the United States, members of the House of Representatives may file articles of impeachment. Then, the Senate decides whether to acquit or convict. A two-thirds majority of the Senate must vote to convict before removing someone from office.

Impeachment serves as a powerful instrument for Congress with significant consequences. Hence, it's unsurprising that only a few United States presidents have been impeached by Congress, with none being convicted.

The impeachment of a president is the most high-profile example of the process. However, Congress may also impeach other federal officials and federal judges.

Because the framers of the Constitution did not define what “High Crimes and Misdemeanors" meant, it's up to Congress and the Supreme Court to interpret. Impeachable offenses have ranged from disagreeing with Congress to inciting an insurrection against the government.

In this article, we examine past impeachment proceedings filed against U.S. presidents.

Constitutional Basis of Impeachment

Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states that:

“The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Meanwhile, Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 grants Congress the power to “impeach" presidents and other federal government officials when they suspect them of wrongdoing:

"The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present."

See Article II, Section 4: Impeachment for more information about the constitutional basis of impeachment.

Andrew Johnson

The first American presidential impeachment involved President Andrew Johnson. Johnson was vice president during Abraham Lincoln's second term. After Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson became president.

After he became president, Johnson quickly conflicted with Radical Republicans in Congress over the approach to reconstruction. President Johnson favored a more lenient plan for allowing the southern states to reenter the Union. He opposed the Fourteenth Amendment, which granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people. 

He also vetoed several bills, including the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Civil Rights Act (which Congress later overrode). During the midterm elections, the Radical Republicans obtained a veto-proof majority in both houses of Congress. The reconstruction bills passed despite Johnson's continued vetoes.

The Radical Republicans supported a military approach to Reconstruction. Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War, was a member of this faction and advocated for the implementation of Reconstruction policies.

However, as commander-in-chief, President Johnson refused to carry out their plans. In response, Congress enacted the Tenure of Office Act to bar Johnson from dismissing Stanton. The Act prohibited the removal of any Cabinet member without the approval of Congress.

Tensions between Congress and President Johnson eventually came to a head. President Johnson twice tried to remove Stanton as Secretary of War without Congress' approval, which led to the House drafting articles of impeachment against Johnson. On February 24, 1868, the House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 to impeach President Johnson based on 11 articles of impeachment.

The Senate subsequently held a trial. They took a vote on three articles of impeachment. 54 Senators representing 27 states voted 35 – 19 on each of the three articles in favor of conviction. However, the vote was one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict. The Senate dismissed the remaining charges. Johnson remained in office as President until the end of his term on March 4, 1869.

The aftermath of Johnson's impeachment impacted the power balance between the executive and legislative branches. It showed that Congress could not remove the president simply because they disagreed with him politically. Instead, Congress may only impeach a president for treason, bribery, or other “high Crimes and Misdemeanors." 

Richard Nixon

While Congress never completed impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, Congress investigated him and drafted articles of impeachment because of the Watergate scandal. President Nixon resigned before the impeachment hearing began.

The Watergate scandal stems from the June 17, 1972, arrest of several people who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate building. The individuals worked for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP). The CRP was a campaign organization formed to reelect President Nixon. During the investigation, Nixon won his reelection campaign and took the presidential oath of office in 1973.

In the summer of 1973, the attorney general appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the break-in. The investigation uncovered evidence that President Nixon used the government to harass his enemies. The special prosecutor also discovered that the burglars had committed previous burglaries. 

An aide also revealed that President Nixon had recorded all conversations in the Oval Office. This led many to believe that recorded conversations regarding the burglary and the cover-up existed.

The special prosecutor subpoenaed the recordings. President Nixon refused to turn them over and tried to fire the special prosecutor. This led to an event known as the Saturday Night Massacre. Nixon first asked the attorney general to fire the special prosecutor. The attorney general refused and resigned. 

Similarly, the deputy attorney general also refused and resigned. Finally, as acting attorney general, the solicitor general fired the special prosecutor and appointed a replacement special prosecutor, and the investigation continued.

In early 1974, the House Judiciary Committee began investigating the Watergate scandal. It ultimately commenced an impeachment inquiry. During the investigation, more Watergate conspirators were indicted, and President Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.

A district court ordered the President to turn over the tapes to the special prosecutor. The Supreme Court affirmed the order in United States v. Nixon.

In July 1974, the House Judiciary Committee drafted three articles of impeachment:

1. Obstruction of justice, related to Nixon's attempts to impede the investigation into the Watergate break-in

2. Abuse of power, based on Nixon’s use of federal agencies — including the IRS and the FBI — against his enemies and authorizing burglaries of private citizens

3. Contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee's investigation

On August 5, 1974, President Nixon released the transcripts of the recorded conversations. They showed he was complicit in the Watergate cover-up. Afterward, many of his own party said they would vote for impeachment and conviction.

On August 9, 1974, President Nixon resigned from office before the House voted to impeach him. Although he was not impeached, it was the first time the impeachment process resulted in a president leaving office.

Bill Clinton

President Bill Clinton was the second president impeached in U.S. history. In 1998, the House of Representatives impeached him on two articles of impeachment - perjury and obstruction of justice.

During President Clinton's first term, he faced a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones for actions when he was Governor of Arkansas. He also faced an independent counsel investigation for Whitewater, a land deal he took before his presidency. Both contributed to his impeachment.

From 1995 through 1996, President Clinton engaged in an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. At some point, Lewinsky told a coworker about her affair with President Clinton. The coworker, Linda Tripp, started recording her conversations with Lewinsky. When the Paula Jones case was allowed to move forward, Tripp contacted her attorney with information about Lewinsky.

When President Clinton found out Lewinsky was listed as a witness in the Jones case, he took steps to cover up the affair. He allegedly suggested that Lewinsky file a false affidavit and use cover stories. He also helped her find a job to influence her testimony. During a deposition in the Jones case, he denied having any sexual relationship or affair with Lewinsky.

Tripp informed the independent counsel, Ken Starr, that Lewinsky would commit perjury in the Jones case. She stated that the President's confidant, Vernon Jordan, was advising Lewinsky. Jordan's involvement was enough for Starr to convince the attorney general to expand the investigation to include the Lewinsky matter. Starr found evidence of perjury and obstruction and submitted his report to the House of Representatives.

The House Judiciary Committee opened an impeachment inquiry based on the Starr Report. The Judiciary Committee did not conduct an independent investigation, basing the inquiry on the Starr report. The committee submitted four articles of impeachment to the full House for consideration.

1. Grand jury perjury (in the Jones case)

2. Perjury (in the Jones case)

3. Obstruction of justice

4. Abuse of power

On December 19, 1998, the House of Representatives impeached Clinton on the first and third articles of impeachment. The vote on the first article was 228 in favor and 206 opposed. The vote on the third article was 221 in favor and 212 opposed. Members of the House rejected the second and fourth articles.

On February 12, 1999, the Senate acquitted President Clinton of both counts. The perjury charge did not achieve a majority in favor of conviction (55 senators voted to acquit while 45 voted to convict). The Senate split on the obstruction charge 50 / 50.

President Clinton continued to serve as the U.S. President for the remaining two years of his term.

Why did Clinton survive impeachment when Nixon did not?

While the impeachment charges against the two are similar, there are some substantive differences. President Nixon's resignation came after the Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers. During the Nixon administration, trust in the government declined overall. Under President Clinton, however, trust increased in the 1990s.

Perhaps the most crucial difference was the support each president had during the proceedings. When President Nixon's direct involvement in the Watergate scandal came to light, he lost support from his own party. Throughout his presidency, President Clinton enjoyed bipartisan support based on his performance. The charges were seen as a moral failure rather than a failure of leadership.

Donald Trump

President Donald Trump is the only president to have been impeached twice by the House of Representatives. Despite the impeachments, the Senate did not convict him, and he completed his full term in office.

President Trump's First Impeachment

President Trump's first impeachment stemmed from charges that he solicited foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election. Allegations of Russian interference stemmed from the 2016 election, from social media to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's servers. A special counsel investigation was conducted into those matters. However, there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges related to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In 2019, President Trump allegedly sought foreign interference and investigations to find information on his potential political opponents, including Joe Biden. President Trump allegedly used surrogates, including Rudy Giuliani, to pressure Ukraine and other countries to support conspiracy theories. President Trump also allegedly blocked a Congressionally authorized military aid payment to Ukraine until President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, and cooperate with Giuliani.

On July 25, 2019, President Trump allegedly called Zelenskyy to discuss the requested quid pro quo involving military aid for information. Alexander Vindman, an aide who was present during the phone call, made a whistleblower complaint. He claimed President Trump abused his presidential powers to gain interference in the 2020 election. The White House released partial transcripts that confirmed the allegations but claimed that the president did nothing wrong.

Following the whistleblower complaint, the House commenced several investigations into the matter. President Trump and the White House did not cooperate with the investigations and often told subordinates to ignore subpoenas. A formal impeachment inquiry began in November 2019. The Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, admitted that he and Giuliani did their investigations at the express direction of the president.

The House Judiciary Committee drafted two articles of impeachment:

1. Abuse of Power for seeking the quid pro quo with the Ukraine

2. Obstruction of Congress for hindering the House's investigation

The House of Representatives voted on the articles of impeachment on December 18, 2019. In a 230 to 197 vote, the House voted to impeach President Trump on both articles.

The impeachment proceedings were highly partisan. The Republicans accused the Democrats, who controlled the House, of being politically motivated. The impeachment vote against President Trump was the first time the House impeached without support from the sitting president's party. 

Partisanship persisted with the Senate's involvement. Numerous Republican senators declared they would not remain impartial throughout the trial. Additionally, a subsequent vote barred the Senate from summoning any witnesses during the proceedings.

The Senate held a trial in February 2020. The vote on the first article of impeachment, Abuse of Power, was 48 votes for conviction and 52 votes to acquit. The second impeachment vote was 47 votes for conviction and 53 votes to acquit. Both failed to reach the necessary two-thirds vote to convict. Senator Mitt Romney voted in favor of conviction on the Abuse of Power charge. Romney’s vote was the first time a member of the president’s own party voted in favor of conviction.

President Trump remained in office. Shortly after the impeachment trial, he fired Sondland and Vindman, who testified during the hearings. 

President Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. However, Trump’s efforts to have the election declared invalid led to his second impeachment.

Second Impeachment

One year after his first impeachment, members of Congress impeached Trump again for his involvement in inciting the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. This impeachment was historic for several reasons: 

• It was the first time a president faced a second impeachment. 

• The House impeached him one week before the end of his term.

Almost immediately after Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Trump began to discredit the election. He claimed, among other things, that rigged voting machines and widespread voter fraud led to his defeat.

On December 1, 2020, the FBI announced that it had found no evidence of fraud. Furthermore, the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency declared that the election was the most secure ever. Trump refused to accept these claims. 

Numerous Republicans aligned themselves with the stance of not recognizing Biden as the president-elect. Their strategy involved appealing to state legislatures, attempting to discard legally cast votes, and challenging the certification of the electoral votes. Trump filed over 60 unsuccessful lawsuits to challenge the validity of ballots and election results.

Congress moved forward with counting the electoral votes and certifying the election on January 6, 2021. The same day, Trump supporters held a “Save America" rally. Trump addressed the crowd and again argued that the election was fraudulent. He encouraged supporters to “fight like hell” to save the country.

After the speech, approximately 2,000 supporters marched to the Capitol, where Congress was in session. In what has been described as an attempted coup, they broke into the Capitol, vandalized, and looted it. They assaulted Capitol police as they tried to locate lawmakers and other officials, including Vice President Pence, to keep Congress from certifying the election results.

Trump allegedly resisted calls to bring the National Guard in to help restore order. He eventually gave in. After several hours, he finally told his supporters to go home. Congress resumed, and in the early morning of January 7, 2021, declared Biden the election winner.

On January 11, 2021, The House introduced an article of impeachment for Incitement of Insurrection for the events of January 6th. Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Vice President that he should invoke the 25th Amendment and become acting president, or else the House would vote to impeach. Pence refused, and impeachment moved forward.

The House voted on January 13, 2021, in favor of impeachment (232 to 197). Ten Republicans voted in favor of impeachment.

When the case moved to the Senate, some wanted to dismiss the trial, arguing it was unconstitutional because Trump was no longer in office. However, the trial occurred. The Senate acquitted Trump (57 in favor of conviction and 43 in favor of acquittal). Although the majority voted for conviction, it was ten votes short of the 67 votes necessary to convict. Seven Republicans voted for conviction, making it the most significant bipartisan vote for conviction in history.

As Trump had already left office, some wondered why it was necessary to impeach him. Had the Senate convicted him, it could have held a separate vote to disqualify him from holding future office. This "punishment" would have only required a simple majority vote.

Future of Impeachment

The outcome of Trump's second impeachment trial has led many to question whether any president could be convicted and removed from office, especially in the current highly partisan climate.

It has been over 50 years since a single party held a two-thirds majority in the Senate, and that was the same party as the president. Therefore, any impeachment conviction would require several senators from the president's party to vote in favor of conviction. This is highly unlikely with the two-party system and the current division between the parties.