Presidential Impeachment

Presidential impeachment is the episode’s frame for removing or disqualifying a president when ordinary elections, courts, or political criticism are not enough to protect the constitutional system. In 173.弹劾：如何罢免一位总统, Cass Sunstein’s [[ImpeachmentBook|《弹劾》]] is used to argue that impeachment repairs the system rather than punishing every bad, illegal, or unpopular presidential act.

The U.S. version is deliberately hard to complete. The House impeaches, the Senate tries the case, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over presidential trials, and conviction requires a two-thirds Senate vote. The penalty is limited to removal and possible disqualification from office; later criminal liability belongs to ordinary judicial process.

Key Claims

• Impeachment is not a parliamentary no-confidence vote.
• Impeachment is not identical to criminal prosecution.
• The relevant question is whether the president abused office, betrayed public trust, or threatened the constitutional order.
• The high threshold protects Separation Of Powers by keeping removal exceptional.
• The tool’s threat can matter even without conviction, as Richard Nixon’s resignation illustrates.
• Modern impeachment cannot be understood without party incentives and media attention, as the Donald Trump cases show in the source.

Connections

• United States Constitution - legal source of the impeachment procedure.
• Presidential System and Parliamentary System - system comparison that explains why impeachment is needed but exceptional.
• High Crimes And Misdemeanors - constitutional standard interpreted by the episode.
• Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump - historical cases used to test the boundary.
• Twenty-Fifth Amendment - adjacent but distinct incapacity mechanism.
• Constitutional Robustness, American Democratic Resilience, and Executive Power Precedent - broader institutional-risk frame.