As an elementary school student in the early 1960s, I learned that only one U.S. president had ever been impeached. That was Andrew Johnson who was impeached in 1868. He was impeached on eleven "high crimes and misdemeanors" by the House of Representatives and was acquitted of all charges after a trial in the Senate (although the vote was close). I thought to myself, "that was a long time ago." As the decades rolled by, the Johnson impeachment got even older and started to seem like an historical artifact, something that would never happen again. Of course, impeachment hearings were held aimed at Richard Nixon in 1974, but he mooted the process by resigning in August 1974 and was never actually impeached. So, it seemed somewhat momentous when Bill Clinton was accused of four high crimes and misdemeanors and impeached by the House of Representatives in December 1998. I thought Clinton was doubly unfortunate. First, by getting impeached. And second, by being the first president in 130 years to suffer that fate. Like Johnson, Clinton was found not guilty by the Senate and that was that. Going back to George Washington in 1788, it seemed the impeachment tempo was about once every 105 years. I could live with that and wouldn't live to see the next one. Wrong! The impeachment floodgates broke loose under Donald Trump. He was impeached twice. The first came in 2019, and then again in 2021 including a trial that took place when he was no longer in office. I had to revise my math. Now the impeachment tempo starting with Washington was once every 58 years. Using Clinton as a new starting point, the impeachment tempo was once every 7.7 years! Maybe I would live to see another. That's the point of this article. The Republicans are almost certain to take control of the House of Representatives by a hefty margin in the elections on November 8. Biden is widely regarded as the worst president in U.S. history and has shown a blatant disregard for the law in areas of border control, student loan forgiveness, vaccine mandates, armed raids on political opponents, Hunter Biden bribes, and many other acts that certainly qualify as high crimes and misdemeanors. A Republican-controlled House could impeach Biden with relative ease and with good reason. The question is, should they? Aren't Americans sick of impeachments after the Clinton-Trump fights (both were acquitted)? What's the point of impeachment by the House if the Senate fails to convict, which would almost certainly be the case. (It takes 67 Senate votes to remove an impeached president from office. It's unlikely more than about 50 Senators would vote to convict). The article makes the point that conviction is not the only goal of impeachment. The impeachment hearings themselves are a great way to expose the facts and hold presidents accountable. Far from being divisive, it could have a healing effect by giving Americans hope that the justice system still works. Maybe the politicized Department of Justice and the weaponized FBI will lower the heat a bit. Who knows? Even if Biden is not convicted, he might just choose to resign like Nixon under the adverse exposure. Keep an eye on this idea. It will be on the table by late January and may be the main domestic political event of 2023.
Jim Richards
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