Impeachment Now and Then

What history can teach us

Presidents Andrew Johnson, Donald Trump, and Bill Clinton. Image by Clay Rivers.

The House of Representatives has embarked upon the process of impeaching a racist, unpopular president, who has nothing but contempt for the House majority, a progressive group elected to move the country forward. After an impeachment trial in the Senate, the President narrowly escapes removal from office. The year is . . .1868.

Or 1998?

Or is it 2019?

Impeachment itself is an investigatory process and the start of the procedure for removing a president or other official from office as detailed in the Constitution. The House committees investigate the allegations to determine whether charges should be approved. If they are, then the process moves to the Senate where there is a trial with the Senators sitting as the jury. If the Senate does not vote to convict, as has happened in all prior impeachment trials, then the president is not removed from office and nothing more happens. In some respects, it is a slap on the wrist.

There’s that old saying about those who don’t learn from history being doomed to repeat it. In this case, it is certainly worth looking to history to help divine the possible outcomes of our current political debacle. Considering that Trump is likely to be impeached, but he might not be removed from office, it is worth looking at our prior…