FX.co ★ 4 US presidents who have faced impeachment

Andrew Johnson (17th US President)

Andrew Johnson became the first American leader to be impeached. It happened in 1868 when he had already been in office for three years. He was sharply criticized because of the fact that after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he radically changed the entire political course of the country. He called for pardons for Confederate leaders and vetoed political rights for freedmen. This approach put him at odds with Congress. The final straw was the dismissal of Edwin Stanton, a Lincoln appointee, as Secretary of War. Stanton supported enfranchisement and civil rights for freed African Americans. No wonder, the Senate passed 11 articles of impeachment in the House. When Johnson was tried in the Senate, he was lucky enough to hold onto his presidency by a single vote.

Richard Nixon (37th US President)

The next impeachment trial took place in 1974 against the 37th US president. Notably, when Nixon came to power, there had been circulating a lot of nasty rumors about him. For instance, throughout his years as a country leader, he was dogged by the Watergate scandal, which was based mainly on allegations of wiretapping the headquarters of a major electoral competitor. As soon as all the details of the ongoing Watergate investigation were unveiled to the public, Nixon had no illusions about his future. He could not avoid the impeachment trial. This is why he decided not to wait for the start of the impeachment proceedings and resigned. He became the first president who left the office voluntarily. Interestingly, the new US president announced his amnesty and Nixon faced no charges.

Bill Clinton (42nd US President)

Bill Clinton ruined his reputation due to the Clinton–Lewinsky political sex scandal. In 1998, he was convicted of having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The intimate details of Clinton’s personal life were discussed without exaggeration by the whole country and even the whole world. The public was outraged not by Bill Clinton's intimate relations with a young employee but by the fact that he denied it for a long period of time. It meant that he openly lied to his voters. He continued to lie even under oath. As a result, the government decided to start the impeachment procedure. However, it was not crowned with success. The House of Representatives failed to get the necessary number of votes to finally destroy Clinton's career. Nine years after the scandal, all charges against Bill Clinton were dropped.

Donald Trump (45th US President)

Former US President Donald Trump has faced impeachment more than once. In September 2019, the official impeachment procedure was launched in the US Congress. The reason for this was an anonymous report that the American leader was exerting significant pressure on the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky. Curiously enough, the main focus was on the fact that Trump tried to force Zelenskyto to launch an investigation that would spoil the rating of Trump's main rival in the election - Joe Biden and his son. Yet, Trump's foes failed to gain the majority of votes and the charges were dropped. However, just a few months later, the impeachment proceedings against the 45th leader of the country were initiated once again. This time, he was charged with incitement to a coup d'etat and refusal to recognize the legitimate transfer of power to the new president. On January 6, 2021, Trump's supporters attacked the US Capitol, which led to casualties. The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump on January 13, 2021, making him the only president in American history to be impeached twice.