ANDREW JOHNSON'S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OPENS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week that a prospective impeachment of President Donald J. Trump "wasn't worth it" unless major transgressions were to be uncovered.
Impeachment is certainly a last resort and the Founding Fathers wanted to make sure it was not undertaken lightly. That is why they required a two-thirds guilty vote in a Senate trial for conviction.
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week that a prospective impeachment of President Donald J. Trump "wasn't worth it" unless major transgressions were to be uncovered.
Impeachment is certainly a last resort and the Founding Fathers wanted to make sure it was not undertaken lightly. That is why they required a two-thirds guilty vote in a Senate trial for conviction.
Accordingly, only two POTUS have been impeached or "charged with high crimes or misdemeanors." The first was Andrew Johnson* who went on trial March 13, 1868 although the Chief Justice agreed to give the defense ten days to prepare its case.
In the end, President Johnson was acquitted and finished out the term to which he and Abraham Lincoln had been elected in 1864. The second POTUS to be impeached was William Jefferson Clinton (1999) who also was acquitted but by a much wider margin. Because of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon resigned the presidency (1974) and in doing so avoided certain impeachment and possible conviction.
*Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) was born in Raleigh, NC & became a tailor in Greenville, TN. AJ was elected to the TN House of Representatives (1835) & served in the US House of Representatives (1843-1853).
Johnson was Governor of TN (1853-1857) & US Senator (1857-1862 & 1875). He served as Military Governor of TN & VPOTUS. AJ assumed the presidency upon the death of Lincoln in 1865.
*Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) was born in Raleigh, NC & became a tailor in Greenville, TN. AJ was elected to the TN House of Representatives (1835) & served in the US House of Representatives (1843-1853).
Johnson was Governor of TN (1853-1857) & US Senator (1857-1862 & 1875). He served as Military Governor of TN & VPOTUS. AJ assumed the presidency upon the death of Lincoln in 1865.
Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson
United States Senate Chamber
Illustration by T. R. Davis
Harper's Weekly
