Have Democrats Tried To Impeach Every President Since Eisenhower?

“The Democrats have tried to impeach every Republican president since Eisenhower,” tweeted Rep. John Rutherford on November 7, 2019.

He made the tweet following the inquisition against President Donald Trump in 2019. But then, is John Rutherford and other Republicans right to accuse Democrats of such? Have the Democrats made impeachment attempts since Eisenhower, as claimed?

It is usual for Republicans to react when a party member is attacked by their political opponents. Democrats are not new to such accusations from the opposition party too. 

But is the claim that Democrats are anxious to see every Republican president impeached valid? Here’s our position on this accusation that the Republicans are making.

Have Democrats Tried To Impeach Every President Since Eisenhower?

Claims that the Democrats have tried to impeach every Republican President or President of the United States since Eisenhower isn’t true. There is no evidence to back up such a claim. 

Why is this accusation invalid? Here’s a simple fact. The Republicans have only produced six presidents since Dwight D.  Eisenhower left office in 1961. Here are their names:

• Richard Nixon
• Gerald Ford
• Ronald Reagan
• George H.W. Bush
• George W. Bush
• Donald Trump

Democrats have raised articles of impeachment against five of the six Republican presidents on this list. But the majority of those impeachment articles never saw the light of day. 

Is there a time the Democrats raised articles of impeachment against President Gerald Ford? No, there wasn’t. He didn’t face any impeachment threats from Democrats throughout his administration.  Why? There wasn’t any reason to impeach him. He didn’t commit any impeachable offense while in office. 

Only two of the five Republican presidents the Democrats raised articles of impeachment against faced severe threats. The two names are President Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. 

When Democrats raised articles of impeachment against Ronald Reagan and Bush, most of the Democrats in the House in that period didn’t render their support. 

So, where does the claim that Democrats have attempted to impeach every Republican president come from? By the way, you cannot raise issues about impeachment in the House when the president hasn’t committed any impeachable offense. 

How The United States President Is Impeached

The constitution stipulates possible crimes a sitting president will commit that will empower the legislators to raise articles of impeachment against the president. The lawmakers will also pass through a process when attempting to impeach the United States president. 

What is the impeachment process? It starts with a member of the House of Representatives. It can be a Democrat or a Republican. But you cannot expect a Republican to raise articles of impeachment against a Republican president. Even if it happens, there is the possibility that it won’t fly because of party politics. 

When a member of the House of Rep. raises articles of impeachment against the president, a committee looks into the matter. 

The committee’s findings will determine if the matter will be brought to the House of Rep. for members to vote or be thrashed out.

If the House of Representatives members vote to impeach the president, the next step would be to transfer the matter to the Senate. 

The Senate then holds an impeachment hearing and requires two-thirds of the House to send the President packing. 

In other words, if two-thirds of the legislators (senators) vote to convict the president, then he or she will be impeached. 

Republican President Richard Nixon’s Impeachment 

The Republicans claim Democrats wanted Nixon gone. First and foremost, politics is a game. Furthermore, both parties are always fighting for relevance and want to be the party to produce the country’s number one citizen. 

Another thing is impeachment isn’t something any lawmaker would want to raise against a sitting president without cogent reasons. 

That said, President Richard Nixon was responsible for his impeachment. It doesn’t make sense to blame Democrats. 

Nixon was elected president and resumed office on January 20, 1969. He got re-elected in 1972 after his first tenure. 

Nixon’s worst nightmare started in October 1973, when the House Judiciary Committee commenced impeachment inquiries following the Watergate Scandal. Did Nixon commit the crime? No, he didn’t, as claimed. 

What made Nixon’s impeachment a tricky one was the fact that he was trying to cover up the Watergate Scandal. And that was his undoing. 

Republican President Ronald Reagan’s Impeachment 

The Democrats attempted to impeach Ronald Reagan, but it didn’t work. What impeachable offense did Reagan commit?

Halfway through Ronald Reagan’s second term, precisely in March 1987, Rep. Henry Gonzales raised articles of impeachment against the president. The reason was the Iran-Contra scandal. 

Reagan was desperate to stop Nicaragua’s socialist government, and decided to do so by using proxies known as Contras. And even when Congress tried stopping him by passing a law in 1984 that he signed, he ordered numerous illegal means to execute his plans. 

He kept supplying the Contras with cash and weapons and even had a deal with other governments to support the group. He made a lot of quid pro quo and committed grave legal misdeeds, more severe than any Donald Trump was accused of. Yet, he wasn’t impeached in a Democrat-controlled House. 

Many claim the House didn’t impeach Reagan because of his popularity, and we couldn’t agree less. He was a popular figure in the United States politics, and people loved him. 

The Democrats had no choice but to let him off the hook despite all the illegal and impeachable offenses he committed. Reagan was extreme in his anti-communist revolution and sought places where he could unleash his socialist revolutions. 

In all honesty, we can’t entirely blame Reagan. Why? Congress gave him enormous support against Afghanistan. Unfortunately, they decided to turn their backs on the president regarding Nicaragua, which other presidents before him considered a part of America. 

Reagan regarded Nicaragua as a second Cuba situated in the Caribbean Basin. But his plan to overthrow the government in Nicaragua was illegal, and Congress was even unaware of his dealings. He and several top national security officials in the country reached agreements with several foreign governments at the time. 

They made a deal with the Saudis, Israel, and Honduras. The Israeli provided weapons to the Contras, Honduras let them operate and transport weapons illegally, while the Saudis provided the funds. 

The United States government under Reagan asked 15 governments to support their illegal crusade of sponsoring the Contras. Guatemala, for example, helped falsify records to conceal the position of the United States weapons sent for the outlawed operation.

The point is, despite all these impeachable offenses, Ronald Reagan still remained in power. The Democrats couldn’t impeach him. But it is not like they couldn’t if they wanted to. 

Republican President George H.W. Bush’s Impeachment 

Was George H.W. Bush Ronald Reagan’s vice? He became the United States President at the end of Reagan’s tenure. 

Like Reagan, George H.W. Bush faced impeachment threats. And Rep. Henry Gonzales, the same man that raised the impeachment articles against Reagan, was the same person that made the impeachment attempt on George H.W. Bush. 

Gonzales brought the impeachment articles against the president for initiating “Operation Desert Storm.” The operation aimed to chase the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait and was supposed to last six months. Unfortunately, it lasted more than six months. 

Gonzales’ impeachment articles made their way into the House Judiciary Committee. But they were struck out. He also made an impeachment attempt for the second time but failed. 

Republican President George W. Bush’s Impeachment 

George W. Bush, aka Bush-43, was the son of President George H.W. Bush. He worked tirelessly to expand opportunities, freedom, and security at home and abroad. 

George W. Bush gave birth to what is popularly called the “Bush Doctrine.” The doctrine implies that the United States will create policies of preemptive military strikes on any nation harboring or aiding terrorist organizations hostile to the United States of America. 

For a president that spearheaded numerous military campaigns against terrorist organizations outside the shores of the United States, impeachment threats are expected. 

George W. Bush faced several impeachment threats while in office. The most serious was the impeachment articles raised by Democrats Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) and Robert Wexler (Florida).    

Both Rep. members jointly raised 35 articles of impeachment against the president just six months before his second term as president ended. The House voted, and the articles got sent to the House Judiciary Committee. Fortunately, the issue never came up again before he left office. 

Republican President Donald Trump’s Impeachment 

Most Republican politicians and supporters of the party claim the word “impeachment” never seized from Democrats’ mouths from the very first day Donald Trump stepped into office. 

Trump is a highly controversial politician, and completely different from your regular politician. He faced impeachment threats for several reasons, ranging from collusion with Russia, emolument clause, secret dealings with Ukraine, and obstruction of justice. 

In 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s dealings which the House termed unlawful. He was accused of pressuring Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s President, into launching an investigation on his political rival, Joe Biden. 

The House of Representatives impeached Trump, but the Senate voted to acquit him. 

Trump also had articles of impeachment brought against him for the second time, making him the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. The article referenced Trump’s calls, tweets, and speeches as the reason the violent crowd that invaded the U.S. Capitol made a move on January 6, 2021. 

Again, the House of Rep. voted to impeach the president. The Senate held their trial after he had left office but didn’t find him guilty. 

Conclusion

So, have the Democrats tried to impeach every president since Eisenhower? There is no truth in this claim. Besides, the United States Constitution empowers legislators to initiate impeachment proceedings against any sitting president that commits impeachable crimes. 

Therefore, if the president commits a crime, should the lawmakers be afraid to raise impeachment articles against them for fear of being labeled a rebel? 

Besides, only five out of six GOP presidents have faced impeachment threats. And that’s because they had a case to answer.