Two Impeachments, 1 President

By Lianne Cha

Oxford Academy

In the 244-year-old history of the United States, only three presidents have faced impeachment: President Andrew Johnson in 1868, President Bill Clinton in 1998, and President Donald Trump in 2020. Impeachments themselves are extremely uncommon, and it’s unheard of to have the same president be impeached twice.

Trump is pushing the boundaries of history by potentially being the first president to be impeached twice in one term. Both Democrats and Republicans are furious over the riot that happened at the Capitol on January 6, leading to calls for impeachment from notable members of the House of Representatives, such as the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, as well as the general public.

However, with only a few days left until the end of his presidency, it is questionable whether or not impeaching Trump is necessary. Chanah Park, a junior from Cypress High School, expresses a conflicted attitude towards this issue: “Even though I don’t believe that he should sit as the president of the United States for a day longer, I think a second impeachment is a waste of resources.” The Senate would reconvene on January 19, which is the day before his term ends, so the end result from the impeachment would be the same -- impeached or not -- as Trump would be stepping down as president. Kenneth Yang, a senior from Fairmont Preparatory Academy, also recognizes that the main motive behind another impeachment, the riot at the Capitol, may not merit the 25th Amendment, and does not see any benefit in impeaching Trump a second time. Others have criticized proponents of the impeachment by arguing that this Constitutional intervention should be carefully used rather than applied in a fit of emotional rage.

In just a few days, the world will see an end to this political battle, but the war between Trump supporters and the rest of the country will only grow more bitter. This struggle not only reflects the dangers of political parties but also reveals a broken democracy that the new government will need to start repairing. The new administration has passed over thirty executive orders in the first three days of his presidency, undoing many of the orders that Trump’s administration made during his presidency. However, despite the fact that President Biden is making many changes to the government, Trump holds an impactful legacy in the history of the United States, though it may be arguable whether the legacy is positive or negative.