Two presidents in U.S. history were impeached: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Will Donald Trump be the third? If California Congresswoman Maxine Waters has her way it could happen. And according to several Constitutional experts, grounds possibly exist for impeachment proceedings to occur. But before we look at any evidence to support any future impeachment action, let’s look at what led to impeachment proceedings against Johnson and Clinton.
Andrew Johnson was Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President. In April 1865, Johnson became President after the assassination of Lincoln. Johnson — former Senator from Tennessee — as President after the Civil War enacted a very lenient Reconstruction policy for the South which included extremely lax treatment of ex-Confederates and establishment of new local governments in the South which were able to enact local laws and policies that tried to preserve as much of slavery culture as possible. The Republican Congress opposed Johnson’s favoritism to the South and passed the Tenure of Office Act over the president’s veto. (I think it’s important to note here that Democrats supported slavery before, during, and after the Civil War. It was under the leadership of the first Republican President — Lincoln — that slavery was ended. Johnson was a Democrat and led his party as a pro-slavery leader in the White House) The Tenure of Office Act prohibited removal of officials confirmed by the Senate without Senate approval. The Act was designed to protect members of Johnson’s cabinet who were supporters of war efforts to abolish slavery. The President tried to test the law by removing a cabinet member and replacing him with General Ulysses S. Grant. The Supreme Court refused to rule on the case which resulted in Grant stepping down allowing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (who Grant had replaced) to resume the position.
In February 1868, President Johnson decided to get rid of Stanton for good and appointed General Lorenzo Thomas as secretary of war. Stanton refu
sed to step down and literally barricaded himself in his office. That was enough for impeachment proceedings to begin. For his actions the House of Representatives voted 11 articles of impeachment against Andrew Johnson, nine of which were for the President’s removal of Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. His impeachment trial began March 13 that year and ended on May 26 when his opponents failed to achieve the two-thirds majority in the Senate necessary to convict him.
On December 19, 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 2 articles of impeachment against President William Jefferson Clinton. One charge was for his committing perjury in testimony to a federal grand jury regarding charges made against him for having an affair with White House unpaid intern Monica Lewinsky that included multiple sexual acts committed 
in the White House over and 18-month period. The second charge was for obstruction of justice for his efforts to get Lewinsky to change her testimony regarding the affair. January 7, 1999, the second impeachment trial of a President began in the U.S. Senate. Clinton was acquitted on both charges.
Both impeachments happened because of some pretty serious circumstances that in the cases of both Johnson and Clinton had taken a significant amount of time to develop. So how could President Trump just weeks into his presidency already be guilty of acts that potentially rise to the level of impeachment? According to Constitutional scholars there are two possible charges against the President. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) has accused the President of violating The Emoluments Clause that states in part, “…no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” This alleged Trump infraction would apply if the recently opened Trump Hotel in D.C. hosted any foreign government officials and provided any “benefits” for those government officials or the countries they represent that would possibly be a part of any mutual benefit to the sitting President. Even though Trump’s children have taken over management of his companies’ assets which include the hotel, technically since the property was not placed in a blind trust, he would still personally benefit in such a circumstance. A Deputy Attorney General during the Reagan Administration is quoted saying, “If you can prove bribery by circumstantial evidence or something that a foreign government is patronizing the Trump Hotel in exchange for some benefit in trade or military sale, that’s bribery. That clearly satisfies the impeachment standards, leaving open the possibility of bribery.”
The second case put forth as a possible cause for impeachment involves alleged actions by members of the Trump campaign that included at least communication and possible collusion with Russian government officials, including Russian President Vladimir 
Putin. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) stated “This President absolutely was in collusion with the Kremlin and Putin and Russia during the campaign.” It is highly unlikely that these charges would result in any impeachment actions against the President because even if there were contacts made by the Trump campaign, they would have occurred before Trump took the oath of office and therefore impeachment would not be possible.
So why are we hearing the impeachment drums sound so early in this Trump Administration? Why did those drums start sounding even before the Inauguration? In the opinion of this writer it has nothing to do with actual actions this president or those who worked for him may have taken while campaigning or during the beginning of his presidency. These impeachment drums are sounding out the hysteria felt by Democrats and other liberals in the aftermath of the shocking and sound defeat by Trump of Hillary Clinton last November. These folks are unable to reconcile in their minds how enough Americans could pull away from liberals’ choice for President to elect Donald Trump. Their sincere pain and anger boil over daily as they watch and hear the policies he is making (and replacing). And in doing so he everyday is fulfilling campaign promises he made to American conservatives. Fulfilling campaign promises is something liberals seldom saw in either Obama Administration. Impeachment is simply a reaction to Trump for which there is NO basis.
The final note today to Democrats and other liberals is that the House of Representatives and Senate (which both are necessary to this action) are both controlled by Republicans. That means without actions blatantly illegal and egregious by President Trump, there is not a snowball’s chance in the Sahara Desert there will be an impeachment of President Trump.
I’ll end by saying this: never say never; which means I stated all of the above based on information that is currently in the public domain which all says, “there’s been no impeachable
offenses committed by the White House resident.” But IF evidence is unearthed on either of these matters (or any other matters) that rise to the level of impeachment, it could and should happen. But that should not apply just to Donald Trump. That should apply to any and all elected federal officials. That is why there are three co-equal branches of the U.S. government.
To Democrats: I suggest you all chill out and go to work — both in your job if you’re in Congress or work in some other branch of the government, and in working on your party which is in desperate need right now. in fact it is literally on life support. Life support for the Dems will NOT work unless and until they understand and accept that Americans wanted and still do want change…and the change they want is NOT for bigger government with greater control of Americans’ lives. They want limited government. And that’s where we are too.
