Votes for presidential impeachment in the U.S. senate in 1868-2021
Article One of the U.S. Constitution states that only the House of Representatives has the power to impeach a president, and if an overall majority votes in favor of impeachment, charges are then brought before the Senate where a two-third majority is needed to convict the president and, most likely, remove them from office. In the history of the United States, attempts of impeachment were made against several sitting presidents; however, only three were ever impeached; these were Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump (twice). Richard Nixon likely would have been impeached and removed from office, had he not resigned before formal proceedings could start.
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson became president in 1865, following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Although a Republican, Lincoln chose a Democrat, Johnson, as his Vice President, as a symbol of cross-party unity during the American Civil War. As president, Johnson often clashed with his Republican opponents in Congress and vetoed many of the Reconstruction policies they were trying to enact. When Johnson's tried to replace the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, the Senate voted against this; Johnson then vetoed their decision and proceeded with the change regardless. Three days later, the House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 in favor of impeaching the President, bringing forward eleven articles of impeachment relating to his unconstitutional dismissal of Stanton and his personal conduct against the Senate. Three of these were voted on by the Senate, and 36 guilty votes were required to achieve a two-thirds majority, which would have resulted in Johnson's removal from office. Johnson's presidency survived by a single vote on each of the three charges, and he remained in office for the remainder of his term (though as a lame duck with very little influence). Johnson is regarded by many historians as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history.
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
In 1998, President Clinton was impeached, and two charges were brought before the Senate. The origins of the charges came from a 1994 lawsuit that accused Clinton of sexually harassing a state employee while he was Governor of Arkansas, and the subsequent investigations exposed details of an extramarital affair between Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton denied this affair in a sworn testimony; however, the Starr Report found evidence to the contrary, while further evidence emerged of Clinton coaching his staff to lie under oath. The House of Representatives voted 228 to 206 to impeach Clinton for perjury (lying under oath), and 221 to 212 to impeach him for the obstruction of justice (ordering aides to commit perjury). In the Senate, 67 guilty votes were needed for a two-third majority; however, Clinton was acquitted, and remained in office for the remainder of his term. During the trial, Clinton still had a public approval rating of more than seventy percent, and in subsequent polls he is most often ranked in the top half of U.S. presidents.
Impeachments of Donald Trump
Donald Trump was impeached by the House in December 2019, and was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, with a vote of 229 to 197 in favor of impeachment. These charges stemmed from Trump's attempts to coerce the President of Ukraine into investigating his political opponents (Joe Biden and his son, Hunter) in exchange for already-promised military aid. By doing this, Trump had solicited foreign interference in the 2020 election; determined as an abuse of power by the House of Representatives. Subsequent instructions to his staff to ignore subpoenas for documents or testimonies led to a second charge of obstruction of Congress. In February 2020, Trump was acquitted of both charges by the Senate, with almost complete partisan division in the results. Republican Mitt Romney became the first Senator to ever vote against their party's president in an impeachment trial in a move that drew considerable backlash from the president and other Republicans.
President Trump then lost re-election in 2020, but claimed that the election had been stolen through widespread voter fraud. Neither Trump nor his associates could provide evidence of these claims, although the theory gained support among some followers. On January 6, 2021, Trump gave a speech where he encouraged his followers to march on the Capitol building, where the election results were being certified by Congress. Numerous supporters stormed the building in an attempt to overturn the election results, and five people died due to the riot. One week later, the House of Representatives voted 232 (222 Democrats, 10 Republicans) to 197 (all Republicans) in favor of impeaching the president for the second time, charging him with inciting an insurrection. When the trial went to the Senate, seven Republicans voted to convict, along with all Democrats and Independents. Although this was the only time when multiple Senators voted against their party's (former-)president, it was still 10 votes short of a two-thirds majority, and Trump was acquitted. This impeachment led to questions over Trump's eligibility to run for office in the 2024 election; however, significant challenges did not materialize, and Trump was later re-elected as President.
