Now that incumbent American President Donald Trump and his Republican Party have suffered a major political setback in the recent 2026 United States midterm elections at the hands of Democrats, who have assumed control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the prospect of a third impeachment for the 80-year-old US head of state has become a major subject of political discussion in media worldwide.
In a country that has held 60 presidential elections since 1789 and has even seen a convict, Eugene Debs, contesting an election from a prison cell in 1920 and bagging over 900,000 votes in a losing cause, many Presidents have been subject to demands for impeachment by groups and political adversaries.
Though only three White House occupants have been impeached till date during these 237 years since the oath of first US President, George Washington on April 30, 1789 in New York, official records of the US Congressional Research Service and archives of eminent American media houses like the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post reveal that Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald Trump faced impeachment proceedings twice in 2019 and 2021.
However, none were convicted. Additionally, impeachment proceedings were initiated against two other presidents, John Tyler in 1843 and Richard Nixon in 1974.
Nixon was held culpable for his role in the Watergate Scandal, but he resigned from office before formal impeachment proceedings. Hence, he was never formally impeached.
In September 1974, Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, pardoned him for any crimes against the United States that he might have committed while being the President. President Andrew Johnson was impeached eight years after a magazine called Broughton's Monthly had published four issues featuring engraved portraits of 1860 Presidential candidates with their astrological charts.
These magazine issues included commentary on their potential success based on readings of their horoscopes and positioning of zodiac constellations. As far as Trump is concerned, the Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against him in December 2019.
This was the first time Trump had faced this kind of a situation. He was accused by a whistle-blower of pressuring a foreign government, Ukraine, to interfere on his behalf prior to the 2020 US elections.
The House did vote to impeach Trump, but on January 31, 2020, the Senate voted 51-49 against calling witnesses or issuing subpoenas for any additional documents. Subsequently, on February 5, 2020, the Senate found Trump not guilty of abuse of power by a vote of 48-52.
As both articles of impeachment failed to receive the required super-majority, Trump was acquitted and not removed from office. Trump was impeached for a second time after he was alleged to incite an attack on the US Capitol by attempting to overturn the 2020 US Presidential election results after his loss to Joe Biden.
On January 13, 2021, the House voted to impeach him for incitement of insurrection. Although Trump's term ended on January 20, the trial in the Senate began on February 9, 2021.
On February 13, the Senate found Trump not guilty of incitement of insurrection by a vote of 57 for conviction and 43 against, below the 67 votes needed for a super-majority. Trump was thus acquitted again.
Seven of his fellow Republican senators found Trump guilty.