One Vote From Impeachment

A One-Vote Oddity
Impeached but Not Removed

Three Presidents of the United States have the stain of impeachment associated with their names—Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Nixon resigned before the house could vote on his impeachment. President Clinton and Andrew Johnson were both impeached, but it was Johnson who came closest to being removed from office—one vote close.

Impeachment is a charge of misconduct brought against a government official by a legislative body; … The accused official is then tried in the Senate, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding at the trial.
In 1868, President Andrew Johnson was impeached over issues relating to the proper treatment of the defeated Confederate states following the Civil War. The Senate, however, fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority necessary for conviction, and Johnson completed his full term in office.9 (see endnotes)

In 1868, the Senate and Congress were upset with Johnson. His policies followed an outline laid out by President Lincoln before his death and were considered too lenient toward the southern states which had seceded from the Union. Johnson, like President Clinton, was impeached. But Johnson’s near removal from office was much closer. The Senate fell one vote shy of the two-thirds necessary to remove him from office.

Johnson retained his Presidency and fulfilled his term of office. If one more person had voted against Johnson in the Senate, anti-southern forces in the national government would have been harsher on the southern states, and our country would be even more divided between North and South than it is today. One person, unknown to us by name, played a critical role by casting a vote in favor of the President that day.

Your vote could be that important this year.

Footnote:

9. “Impeachment is considered a drastic measure, one that has been used on only rare occasions in the United States. The House of Representatives has voted articles of impeachment just 17 times in the history of the country. [Eighteen times with the recent addition of President Clinton] Thirteen of the seventeen persons who have been impeached were federal judges, as were all seven individuals convicted by the Senate.” An Outline of American Government. 1998. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.