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In a move that should shock nobody, the Senate fell ten votes shy of convicting former president Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th insurrection, leaving presidents “undefeated” so-to-speak in impeachment trials. Unfortunately, threats of impeachment have become the norm in American politics, with former president Barack Obama being the only president since Jimmy Carter to not have articles of impeachment brought forth against him.* This habit of impeachment has watered down its perceived severity and contributed to an aura of partisan distrust surrounding the process and making it almost impossible to convict, even when deserving. Notwithstanding, the history of impeachments shows that Trump’s most recent crimes are arguably the most serious and convictable. Here’s a quick list of the presidents who have been impeached and their crimes, from least severe to most. Severity of crimes was judged based on the damage to the country and democracy as a whole.
5. Bill Clinton
Aside from the fact that he technically broke the law by lying under oath about his sexual liaisons with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Clinton’s crimes hardly affected the country as a whole. Essentially, he was impeached for having an affair, which is not uncommon throughout American History. While I understand it was shameful and embarrassing, Clinton’s actions served as no detriment to the lives of common Americans or the future of the democracy, though it did provide for some very entertaining media coverage (eg. MTV’s “Virtual Bill” sketches). This is in no way a vindication of Clinton’s actions nor is it meant to mitigate the severity of the sexual assault allegations levied against him by other women, but the situation ultimately represents a matter of his private life, pertinent only to those directly involved.
4. Donald Trump (First impeachment)
The first year of Trump’s presidency was filled with attempts to impeach. I recall my social media feed containing frequent posts to “impeach the motherf***ker” from almost the day he took office, and a congressional hopeful from California formed an Impeach Trump PAC three weeks into his tenure. The Democrats, almost entirely along partisan lines, finally succeeded in passing two articles of impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction of congress in connection with allegations that he sought to withhold aid from Ukraine if they didn’t investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings. This undoubtedly represents an abuse of power, but there was some debate as to whether he had actually broken any laws, and due to the clangor for impeachment since day one of his presidency, it left the door open for opponents to cry partisan foul. Furthermore, it’s uncertain how much it could have affected the election even if Ukraine did find anything, since Hunter was not the one running against Trump.
3. Andrew Johnson
Johnson is in the number three spot because he did in fact break a law (albeit one declared unconstitutional in 1926), but more so because his collective actions during the early part of Reconstruction proved detrimental to posterity. As this lecture from University of Kentucky professor Mark Summer explains, Johnson’s rampant use of the veto against many Reconstruction programs aimed at ensuring equality for freed blacks in the south (including the 14th Amendment) sowed distrust among radical Republicans. His ramblings about how the legislature was an illegal body and how he had suffered for the lawmakers in the same regard as Jesus Christ showed a man potentially unhinged from rational thought. When he removed Secretary of War Stanton in violation of the recently passed Tenure of Office Act, he was impeached for abuse of power. He was acquitted by one vote.
2. Richard Nixon
Nixon never saw an impeachment trial because he resigned shortly after the articles of impeachment were passed. His role in funding the break-in to a Democratic National Committee room in the Watergate Hotel marked a huge abuse of power. It is the belief of many that he would’ve been convicted had a trial gone to the senate. This is the standard for which I compare the most recent Trump impeachment.
1. Donald Trump (second impeachment)
Trump’s most recent impeachment takes the top spot in severity because his actions actually threatened the democratic process by disrupting the counting of lawfully cast votes. He had been using social media to perpetuate a lie about election fraud that was proven to be false by most credible, mainstream media sources and by the Attorney General himself. It was this lie that inspired his supporters to perpetrate an insurrection against the Capitol building on January 6th. Compared to all the previous impeachable crimes that presidents have committed, this one was the most dangerous to the health of our nation and our political institutions.
Unfortunately, Trump was acquitted, despite even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stating that Trump bore a moral responsibility for the insurrection – after voting to acquit for reasons of political expediency. If this is not a convictable impeachment offense, then what is? As we’ve seen, this was far above anything any former impeached president did, and it still wasn’t enough. Trump’s supporters now cheer the fact that he was acquitted twice and hope he will run again in 2024. Moreover, articles of impeachment have already been proposed against president Biden on his first day in office, further showing how much of a farce the impeachment process has become. Will this change? Only time will tell.
Footnotes and Citations
* Reagan for his involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, Bush, Sr. for actions relating to the First Gulf War, and Bush, Jr. for his involvement in the Iraq War.
History in Focus 
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