During the Republic’s first 41 presidencies (Washington through Bush I), there were only two presidential impeachment episodes, both of them weighty. President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 and avoided conviction by a single vote. In 1974, President Richard Nixon was well on his way to impeachment and conviction when he resigned.
The four presidencies after that saw three impeachments, all of them futile—meaning that it was clear well before the final vote was taken in the Senate that the president would be acquitted. What caused this change in impeachment practice? Why are futile impeachments pursued? What does it portend for Joe Biden, the fifth president to serve in this Age of Futile Impeachments? Finally, is there a better way for Congress to go about this?
The key to the
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