List of impeachment efforts for presidents of the United States

The impeachment resolution against Andrew Johnson, adopted on February 24, 1868.

Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase

President Andrew Johnson held open disagreements with Congress, who tried to remove him several times. The Tenure of Office Act was enacted over Johnson's veto to curb his power and he openly violated it in early 1868.[2]

The House of Representatives adopted 11 articles of impeachment against Johnson. The articles charged Johnson with:

1. Dismissing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from office after the Senate had voted not to concur with his dismissal and had ordered him reinstated.
2. Appointing Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas as secretary of war ad interim despite the lack of vacancy in the office, since the dismissal of Stanton had been invalid.
3. Appointing Thomas without the required advice and consent of the Senate.
4. Conspiring, with Thomas and "other persons to the House of Representatives unknown," to unlawfully prevent Stanton from continuing in office.
5. Conspiring to unlawfully curtail faithful execution of the Tenure of Office Act.
6. Conspiring to "seize, take, and possess the property of the United States in the Department of War."
7. Conspiring to "seize, take, and possess the property of the United States in the Department of War" with specific intent to violate the Tenure of Office Act.
8. Issuing to Thomas the authority of the office of secretary of war with unlawful intent to "control the disbursements of the moneys appropriated for the military service and for the Department of War."
9. Issuing to Major General William H. Emory orders with unlawful intent to violate federal law requiring all military orders to be issued through the General of the Army.
10. Making three speeches with intent to "attempt to bring into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt and reproach, the Congress of the United States."
11. Unlawfully, and unconstitutionally, challenged the authority of the 39th Congress to legislate, because Southern states had not been readmitted to the Union.[3]

Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presided over Johnson's Senate trial. Conviction failed by one vote in May 1868. The impeachment trial remained a unique event for 130 years.[4]

Two articles of impeachment were approved by the House, charging President Bill Clinton with perjury and obstruction of justice.[5] The charges stemmed from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Clinton by Arkansas state employee Paula Jones and from Clinton's testimony denying that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. They were:

Article I, charging Clinton with perjury, alleged in part that:

On August 17, 1998, William Jefferson Clinton swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before a federal grand jury of the United States. Contrary to that oath, William Jefferson Clinton willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony to the grand jury concerning one or more of the following:

1. the nature and details of his relationship with a subordinate government employee;
2. prior perjurious, false and misleading testimony he gave in a federal civil rights action brought against him;
3. prior false and misleading statements he allowed his attorney to make to a federal judge in that civil rights action; and
4. his corrupt efforts to influence the testimony of witnesses and to impede the discovery of evidence in that civil rights action.[6][7]

Article II, charging Clinton with obstruction of justice alleged in part that:

The means used to implement this course of conduct or scheme included one or more of the following acts:

1. ... corruptly encouraged a witness in a Federal civil rights action brought against him to execute a sworn affidavit in that proceeding that he knew to be perjurious, false and misleading.
2. ... corruptly encouraged a witness in a Federal civil rights action brought against him to give perjurious, false and misleading testimony if and when called to testify personally in that proceeding.
3. ... corruptly engaged in, encouraged, or supported a scheme to conceal evidence that had been subpoenaed in a Federal civil rights action brought against him.
4. ... intensified and succeeded in an effort to secure job assistance to a witness in a Federal civil rights action brought against him in order to corruptly prevent the truthful testimony of that witness in that proceeding at a time when the truthful testimony of that witness would have been harmful to him.
5. ... at his deposition in a Federal civil rights action brought against him, William Jefferson Clinton corruptly allowed his attorney to make false and misleading statements to a Federal judge characterizing an affidavit, in order to prevent questioning deemed relevant by the judge. Such false and misleading statements were subsequently acknowledged by his attorney in a communication to that judge.
6. ... related a false and misleading account of events relevant to a Federal civil rights action brought against him to a potential witness in that proceeding, in order to corruptly influence the testimony of that witness.
7. ... made false and misleading statements to potential witnesses in a Federal grand jury proceeding in order to corruptly influence the testimony of those witnesses. The false and misleading statements made by William Jefferson Clinton were repeated by the witnesses to the grand jury, causing the grand jury to receive false and misleading information.[6][8]

Chief Justice William Rehnquist

Chief Justice William Rehnquist presided over Clinton's Senate trial. As both articles of impeachment failed to receive the required super-majority, Clinton was acquitted and was not removed from office.[9]

After a whistleblower accused President Donald Trump of pressuring a foreign government to interfere on Trump's behalf in the 2020 election, the House initiated an impeachment inquiry.[10][11] On December 10, 2019, the Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment (H.Res. 755): abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.[12] On December 18, 2019, the House voted to impeach Trump on two charges:[13]

1. Abuse of power by "pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rivals ahead of the 2020 election while withholding a White House meeting and $400 million in U.S. security aid from Kiev."[14]
2. Obstruction of Congress by directing defiance of subpoenas issued by the House and ordering officials to refuse to testify.[14]

On January 31, 2020, the Senate voted 51–49 against calling witnesses or issuing subpoenas for any additional documents.[15] On February 5, 2020, the Senate found Trump not guilty of abuse of power, by a vote of 48–52, with Republican senator Mitt Romney being the only senator—and the first senator in U.S. history—to cross party lines by voting to convict,[16][17] and not guilty of obstruction of Congress, by a vote of 47–53.[16][17]

Chief Justice John Roberts

Chief Justice John Roberts presided over Trump's trial. As both articles of impeachment failed to receive the required super-majority, Trump was acquitted and was not removed from office.[17]

Trump was impeached for a second time after he was accused of inciting a deadly insurrection against the United States by attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results after his loss to Joe Biden.[18][19][20][21] On January 13, 2021, the House voted to impeach Trump for "Incitement of Insurrection". Trump's term ended on January 20. The trial in the Senate began on February 9.[22]

The Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearings received intense press attention. Portions were broadcast live on television.

Outgoing President Richard Nixon's farewell speech to the White House staff, August 9, 1974

The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress.[23]

On October 30, 1973, Nixon ordered the firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, precipitating the Saturday Night Massacre. A massive reaction took place, especially in Congress, where 17 resolutions were introduced between November 1, 1973, and January 1974: H.Res. 625, H.Res. 635, H.Res. 643, H.Res. 648, H.Res. 649, H.Res. 650, H.Res. 652, H.Res. 661, H.Res. 666, H.Res. 686, H.Res. 692, H.Res. 703, H.Res. 513, H.Res. 631, H.Res. 638, and H.Res. 662.[24][25] H.Res. 803, passed February 6, authorized a Judiciary Committee investigation,[26] and in July, that committee approved three articles of impeachment. Before the House took action, the impeachment proceedings against Nixon were mooted when Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. A report containing articles of impeachment was accepted by the full House on August 20, 1974, by a vote of 412–3.[27]

While Nixon was never formally impeached, this is the only impeachment process to result in the president leaving office.

Rep. John Botts (Whig-VA), who opposed President John Tyler, introduced an impeachment resolution on July 10, 1842. It levied several charges against Tyler regarding his use of the presidential veto power and called for a nine-member committee to investigate his actions, with the expectation of a formal impeachment recommendation.[28] The impeachment resolution was defeated, 83–127.[29]

The House of Representatives set up the United States House Select Committee to Investigate Alleged Corruptions in Government, known as the Covode Committee after its chairman, Rep. John Covode (R-PA), to investigate President James Buchanan on suspicion of bribery and other allegations. After about a year of hearings, the committee concluded that Buchanan's actions did not merit impeachment.[30]

On April 22, 1952, Rep. Noah M. Mason (R-IL) suggested that impeachment proceedings should be started against President Harry S. Truman for seizing the nation's steel mills. Soon after Mason's remarks, Rep. Robert Hale (R-ME) introduced a resolution (H.Res. 604).[31][32] After three days of debate on the floor of the House, it was referred to the House Judiciary Committee where it died.[33]

On March 5, 1987, Rep. Henry B. González (D-TX) introduced H.Res. 111, with six articles against President Ronald Reagan regarding the Iran-Contra affair to the House Judiciary Committee where no further action was taken. While no further action was taken on this particular bill, it led directly to the joint hearings of the subject that dominated the news later that year.[33][34] After the hearings were over, USA Today reported that articles of impeachment were discussed but decided against.

Rep. Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (D-KY) introduced an impeachment resolution against President Ulysses S. Grant in 1876, regarding the number of days Grant had been absent from the White House. The resolution never gained momentum and was tabled in December 1876.[40]

Rep. Milford W. Howard (D-AL), on May 23, 1896, submitted a resolution (H.Res 374) impeaching President Grover Cleveland for selling unauthorized federal bonds and breaking the Pullman Strike. It was neither voted on nor referred to a committee.[33]

In 1932 and early 1933, Rep. Louis Thomas McFadden (R-PA) introduced two impeachment resolutions against President Herbert Hoover, over economic grievances. The resolutions were considered for several hours and were then tabled.[33]

On May 3, 1968, a petition to impeach President Lyndon B. Johnson for "military and political duplicity" was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.[41] No action was taken.

President George H. W. Bush[42] was subject to two resolutions over the Gulf War in 1991, both by Rep. Henry B. González (D-TX).[33][24] H.Res. 34 was introduced on January 16, 1991, and was referred to the House Committee on Judiciary and then its Subcommittee on Economic and Commercial Law on March 18, 1992.[43] H.Res. 86 on February 21, 1991, and referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where no further action was taken on it.[44]

A protester calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush on June 16, 2005.

During the administration of President George W. Bush, several American politicians sought to either investigate him for possible impeachable offenses or to bring actual impeachment charges. The most significant of these occurred on June 10, 2008, when Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) introduced H.Res. 1258, containing 35 articles of impeachment[45] against Bush.[46] After nearly a day of debate, the House voted 251–166 to refer the impeachment resolution to the House Judiciary Committee on June 11, 2008, where no further action was taken on it.[47]

On December 3, 2013, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on President Barack Obama that was formally titled "The President's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws," which political journalists viewed as an attempt to begin justifying impeachment proceedings. When asked by reporters if this was a hearing about impeachment, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) claimed that it was not, saying "I didn't mention impeachment nor did any of the witnesses in response to my questions at the Judiciary Committee hearing."[48][49][50] One witness did mention impeachment directly: Georgetown University law professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz said "a check on executive lawlessness is impeachment" as he accused Obama of "claim[ing] the right of the king to essentially stand above the law." Impeachment efforts never advanced past this, making Obama the first president in 28 years never to have articles of impeachment against him referred to the House Judiciary Committee during his tenure.[51]

On January 21, 2021, the day after Biden’s inauguration, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden. She cited abusing his power while serving as vice president. Viktor Shokin was investigating the founder of Burisma Holdings, a natural gas giant in Ukraine. Biden’s son Hunter Biden had served as a member of the board since 2014.[52] However, Shokin was not investigating the company. Biden had never pressured Ukraine to benefit his son.[53] On February 4, 2021, Greene was removed from all committee assignments for incendiary remarks she had made before her election.[54]