Which president was impeached and convicted

First, some brief background. Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution provides:. Although that clause in Article II—which addresses the presidential executive branch—is silent on the question of whether an impeached and convicted president may become president again, Article I, Section 3 answers the question squarely:.

Emphasis added. Article I addresses Congress—the people's branch. If a president is a private citizen, that purpose of the clause no longer appears relevant. If an ex-president is deemed to have committed impeachable offenses, perhaps it would be perfectly legitimate to impeach and remove him — and thus to block him from running for president or other office ever again. It receives some support from the leading precedent, the impeachment of Secretary of War William Belknap in Belknap resigned just hours before a House committee recommended his impeachment.

In the ensuing debate, the House explored, in detail, whether it was permissible to impeach someone who was no longer in office. When it voted to impeach Belknap, the House essentially concluded that a post-resignation impeachment was permissible. By a vote of 37 to 29, the Senate rejected that argument. A majority of the Senate — but not the necessary two-thirds — voted to convict Belknap. There are two problems with reading the Belknap debates to resolve the question whether a former president can be impeached and convicted.

First, the House and Senate might have gotten it wrong; their disputed judgments, way back in , are hardly conclusive. Second, Belknap resigned immediately before a House committee was going to recommend his impeachment. This was hardly analogous to a decision, in , to pursue Carter, Clinton or Bush.

Turn in this light to the unique question that is about to face the Senate. After the unquestionably legitimate House impeachment of a sitting president, can the Senate proceed to convict him after he leaves on Jan.

You could easily argue that it can. In impeaching Trump, the House did its constitutional duty. If the Senate proceeds to a trial, it is merely continuing the process. And for the Senate to complete that process is not at all pointless, even if Trump is no longer president. He also pressed for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden — then a frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary — and his son, Hunter, who held a paid position on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma while his father was vice president.

Earlier in July, Mr. The U. Days after news of the whistleblower complaint emerged, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry in the Democrat-controlled House. During the hearings that followed, former and current Trump administration officials testified about an irregular diplomatic channel in Ukraine involving the president's personal attorney , Rudy Giuliani, and stressed that the freeze on aid undermined American and Ukrainian national security.

Gordon Sondland, the U. Trump's requests to Zelensky. During the inquiry, the White House refused to comply with House subpoenas for documents and witness testimonies. The president insisted that his call with Ukraine's president was "perfect. House Democrats settled on personal attorney : Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The abuse of power article said Mr. Trump had "openly and corruptly" solicited political investigations from Ukraine and conditioned official acts on his requests. The obstruction of Congress article cited Mr. Trump for withholding documents and ordering officials to not testify. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its 'sole Power of Impeachment," it said.

Trump's Republican defenders criticized the articles as partisan and political, noting that abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are not criminal offenses. They also criticized House Democrats for rushing the process instead of waiting for courts to rule on the subpoenas.

On December 18, , the House impeached Mr. Trump on both articles. The votes were for abuse of power, and for obstruction of Congress. At the time, those were the two highest vote tallies ever in support of impeachment articles. No Republicans voted in favor of either article. Two Democrats voted against the abuse of power article, three voted against the obstruction article, and one Tusli Gabbard , who was also running for president simply voted "present" for both.

The Senate trial's opening arguments began January 22, and the trial concluded just two weeks later. Republicans controlled the Senate with 53 votes, and used that power to keep the trial as short as possible. A majority of 51 Republicans voted against allowing subpoenas for additional documents or calling witnesses, one of whom would have been John Bolton, Mr.

Trump's former national security advisor. Bolton published a memoir later in , in which he confirmed the accusation that Mr. Trump withheld Ukraine's military aid to pressure the government into investigating the Bidens.

On February 5, the Senate acquitted Mr. Trump on both charges. The votes were on abuse of power, and on obstruction of Congress.

Trump on the abuse of power charge — becoming the first senator to ever vote against a president of his own party in an impeachment trial. Trump held a ceremony at the White House the next day celebrating his acquittal in a profanity-laced speech. Nine months after his acquittal, Mr. Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.

But the president refused to concede. In the two months after the election, Mr. Trump insisted he won the race and spread false conspiracy theories about election fraud.

His legal team filed dozens of challenges to the election results, all of which were shot down in court. His falsehoods set off a "Stop The Steal" movement of supporters who wrongly insisted the election was rigged and sought to overturn the results.

Biden's victory. The president told his supporters about 20 times to "fight" the election results, and said they should "demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated. Capitol and said he would go with them, but he didn't go.

Thousands of supporters from the rally then marched to the U. Capitol, and hundreds broke through police lines and stormed the building to disrupt the vote count. Capitol Police evacuated Congress members as the rioters assaulted officers, ransacked offices and chanted for the deaths of lawmakers, including Vice President Mike Pence, whom Mr.

Trump falsely claimed could overturn the election results. The insurrection led to five deaths, including a Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries sustained in the attack. During the Capitol assault, Mr. Trump posted a video on Twitter telling supporters, "We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special. After several hours, the rioters were cleared from the Capitol, and Congress reconvened to the complete the vote count — the final step in confirming Mr.

Trump's defeat.