We are entering into an unprecedented situation in American history.  Three times before, the House has given serious consideration to adopting articles of impeachment against a sitting president.  The last two times — Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton — the House Judiciary Committee took up potential articles of impeachment during the mid-term election year of the president’s second term.  While there would be lingering impacts of the impeachment process in the succeeding presidential election, the sitting president was not a prospective candidate and the process was over before the primary campaign really got started (with the Nixon process ending with his resignation in August of 1974 before the mid-term election and the Clinton process ending with the conclusion of the Senate trial in February 1999 as potential candidates for 2000 were just starting their run).

The impeachment of Andrew Johnson is the closest precedent to the current situation.  While Johnson’s impeachment trial extended into May of 1868 (a presidential election year), there are some major differences that preclude that situation from being a true precedent.  The biggest, of course, is that the nomination process was entirely different back then.  There were no primaries and the state parties had strong control over their delegations which tended to follow the now-abolished block vote tactic.  While Johnson had some support to get a chance to run in 1868, that support was almost entirely from the readmitted former rebel states and he never really had a path to the nomination.  Additionally, in the days before radio and television, the primary coverage was through partisan newspapers.  While partisan television and radio networks may try to slant coverage today, it is possible for voters to view the impeachment hearings and trials in their entirety (either live or by retrieving the video later).

Now, of course, candidates wanting to be President have to run in primary elections that run from February to June and the votes in those primaries bind (to various degrees) the delegates to the national convention.   Also, because primaries are public elections, candidates have a deadline to file for running and have to campaign for votes. Continue Reading...