Impeachments, Near and Far

Three presidents have been impeached, and none have been convicted.  There have been quite a few others that nearly earned this distinction.

John Tyler was the first vice president to be elevated to the presidency by death of a president. The constitution left unclear exactly how this elevation would work, and Tyler arrogated all the powers of his predecessor, which alienated his partisan opponents, and vetoed a number of their bills, which alienated them even further.  He was also a slave holding southerner, which didn't endear him to the abolitionists in congress.  Articles of impeachment were drawn up but were soundly defeated by the full congress.

Andrew Johnson's impeachment was crassly partisan, for violating a law so terrible that it was soon overturned.  He was a terrible president and we owe a lot of the horrible race relations of the present time to his idiotic support of the persecution of ex-slaves in the south.

Warren Harding was perhaps an even worse president than Johnson and probably would have been impeached for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal had he not died.

Richard Nixon came the closest to actually being convicted.  Articles of Impeachment had been drawn up and it was obvious he was going to go down, so he quit first. 

Ronald Reagan unquestionably committed Iran Contra and he probably should have been impeached and removed, but Sen Monyihan judged that his popularity would make that unlikely to succeed and would cause more political strife than it was worth.

Bill Clinton did lie about an affair with Monica Lewinski, but that is nowhere near a high enough crime to justify impeachment.  He was impeached but not convicted in a wholly partisan process.  The country understood that it was just a show, and voted out many of the perpetrators, but they held the trial during the lame-duck period.  As Monyihan had predicted about Reagan's potential impeachment, the broader consequences of the impeachment were far worse than the actual offense.

George W Bush lied us into a war with Iraq and supported torture during that war.  After Trump, he was the most deserving of impeachment of any president.

Donald Trump collaborated with Russian leadership numerous times, to get elected, to undermine intelligence, and more.  He also has been sabotaging the free press, used the military and foreign aid for partisan purposes, and numerous other crimes.   He was deservedly impeached, but he was acquitted--mostly because Trump and his supporters intimidated Republican senators.  Sen Collins rightly explained that Trump had learned a lesson from impeachment, but where she'd thought he'd be chastened, he took it as license to do anything he wanted, no matter how criminal or destructive.