Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon appears in 173.弹劾：如何罢免一位总统 as the U.S. president who resigned before impeachment and conviction were completed. The episode uses him to explain impeachment as a “Damocles sword”: its existence can force political resolution even before the final constitutional machinery falls.

The Nixon case supports the source’s broader claim that [[PresidentialImpeachment|impeachment]] is not valuable only when it removes someone. Its deterrent and signaling function can matter when it makes continued office politically impossible after public trust and constitutional legitimacy collapse.

Source Position

• Nixon is the clearest episode example of impeachment’s suspended-threat function.
• His resignation shows that constitutional remedies can work through political pressure before a formal Senate conviction.
• The case helps distinguish impeachment from ordinary criminal prosecution or retrospective moral judgment.

Connections

• Presidential Impeachment, High Crimes And Misdemeanors, and Constitutional Robustness - concepts illustrated by the case.
• United States Constitution and Separation Of Powers - institutional setting.
• Cass Sunstein and [[ImpeachmentBook|《弹劾》]] - source framework.