Why Trump is vulnerable to being impeached

To impeach or not to impeach, that is the question: If the president’s misdeeds are serious, not minor or technical, then the answer is yes. The framers knew that power corrupts, and they established impeachment as a legal and peaceful means for escaping tyranny without having to resort to revolution or assassination.

Recognizing that misdeeds can take many forms, the delegates set the criteria for impeachment and removal broadly. The resignation of Richard Nixon, who faced the prospects of impeachment and conviction, removed from office a president who threatened America’s constitutional order and likely had committed treason.

Americans should be mindful of the distinction between that which merits punishment and that which is merely a matter of preference. Trump’s unconventional style or his lack of “presidential” stature and demeanor might offend, but those are not worthy of impeachment. Differences of policy and values do not make a case, either.

Even so, Trump’s history and the path he has followed — as candidate, president-elect and president — show that he is uniquely vulnerable to impeachment. It took three years for the House to impeach Andrew Johnson and five years for the impeachment of Bill Clinton and the near impeachment of Nixon. Yet in the early stages of his presidency, Trump has already begun matching Nixon’s abuses.

Is it shouting into the wind to make the case to a Republican Congress for impeaching a presi- dent of their own party? Once Trump becomes more of a liability, the GOP might be willing to turn on him.

Circumstances for Republicans today are far from those of 1868, when the controversial and polarizing Benjamin Wade would have become president in the event of Andrew Johnson’s removal. If the Senate removes Trump from office, then Vice President Pence, a Republican dream president with experience in Congress, rises to the White House.

Former lawyers in the Obama administration have formed a working group to monitor violations of the law and the Constitution by Trump. But his fate will ultimately rest with the democratic activism of the American people.

The many robust demonstrations against Trump will be like smoke through a chimney unless they are put to a purposeful end. If investigations uncover traitorous collusion with the Russians or Trump continues to clash with the law, the Constitution, the environment, and the nation’s traditions and its security, the American people must demand his impeachment. If Republicans remain recalcitrant, voters should be swift to dismiss them from office. Justice will be realized in today’s America not through revolution, but by the Constitution’s peaceful remedy of impeachment — but only if the people demand it.

Allan J. Lichtman, a history professor at American University, last year predicted Donald Trump’s victory based on his book The Keys to the White House. This column is excerpted from his new book The Case for Impeach

ment, published Tuesday.