Impeached Presidents of the United States

Andrew Johnson

Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, was accused of violating the Tenure of Office Act, among other crimes. The 1867 law required Senate approval before a president could remove any member of his Cabinet who had been confirmed by the upper chamber of Congress.

The House voted to impeach Johnson on February 24, 1868, three days after he dumped his secretary of war, a radical Republican named Edwin M. Stanton.

Johnson's move followed repeated clashes with the Republican Congress over how to treat the South during the Reconstruction process. The radical Republicans viewed Johnson as being too sympathetic to former enslavers. They were outraged that he vetoed their legislation protecting the rights of formerly enslaved people.

The Senate, however, failed to convict Johnson, even though Republicans held more than two-thirds of the seats in the upper chamber. The acquittal did not suggest the Senators were in support of the president's policies. Instead, "a sufficient minority wished to protect the office of president and preserve the constitutional balance of powers." 

Johnson was spared conviction and ousting from office by a single vote.

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The Impeachment Process in US Government

By Robert Longley

Bill Clinton

Clinton, the nation's 42nd president, was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998. He was impeached for allegedly misleading a grand jury about his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky in the White House and then persuading others to lie about it also.

The charges against Clinton were perjury and obstruction of justice. After a trial, the Senate acquitted Clinton of both charges on February 12, 1999.

He went on to apologize for the affair and complete his second term in office, telling a captivated and polarized American public:

"Indeed, I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part, for which I am solely and completely responsible."

Donald Trump

Donald Trump, the nation's 45th president, was impeached on December 18, 2019, when the House of Representatives approved articles of impeachment accusing him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The charges stemmed from a July 25, 2019, phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. During this call, Trump allegedly offered to release $400 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine in return for Zelenskiy’s agreement to publicly announce an investigation of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had business dealings with the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. The impeachment came after a formal House inquiry found that Trump had abused his Constitutionally granted power by soliciting a foreign government’s political assistance and interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and had obstructed Congress by preventing administration officials from complying with subpoenas demanding their testimony in the inquiry.

The final House impeachment votes, held on December 18, 2019, fell mostly along party lines. On Article I (Abuse of Power) the vote was 230-197, with 2 Democrats opposed. On Article II (Obstruction of Congress) the vote was 229-198, with 3 Democrats opposed.

Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 of the U.S. Constitution, the articles of impeachment against President Trump were then sent to the Senate for a trial. Had a two-thirds majority of the Senators present voted to convict him, Trump would have been removed from office and replaced by Vice President Mike Pence. In the Senate trial, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts served as the judge, with the individual Senators sworn in as jurors. Unlike the Democrat-controlled House, Republicans held a 53-47 voting majority in the Senate. However, in acting as jurors in the impeachment trial, Senators must swear that they “will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws” and so on.

The Senate impeachment trial began on January 16, 2020, and ended on February 5, 2020, with the Senate voting to acquit President Trump of both charges listed in the articles of impeachment.

Almost Impeached

Although Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump are the only presidents to have been impeached, two others came very close to being charged with crimes.

One of them, Richard M. Nixon, was certain to be impeached and convicted in 1974. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, resigned before he was set to face prosecution over the 1972 break-in at the Democratic Party's headquarters, which became known as the Watergate scandal.

The first president to come perilously close to impeachment was John Tyler, the nation's 10th president. An impeachment resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives after his veto of a bill angered lawmakers.

The impeachment initiative failed.