Impeachment Resolution Adopted by Congress
Yes, it was a party-line vote. The numbers were 232 for and 196 against. And yes, it is still historic. The Constitution was ratified in 1789. There have been only four impeachment inquiries in the history of the nation. The first against Andrew Johnson is mostly forgotten. It is worth noting though that the proximal reason was Johnson breaking a law passed by Congress. It is also worth noting that Johnson was not indicted in the Senate.
Due to the nature of the technology, many Americans did not know Johnson had been impeached. His constant mentioning of it during the reelection campaign is one reason he lost his second bid for the White House.
The second was the Richard Nixon impeachment. Like the one we are about to embark on, it had plenty of drama and open hearings that were televised. People remember John Dean and his phrase, there is a cancer on the presidency.
In the end, many facts emerged about Watergate during the hearings. And like today, the American people were originally against impeachment. The president resigned instead of facing indictment in the Senate and removal from office. It was a lesser hit to his ego, I suppose. However, the language used by Nixon is similar to what the current president is using. There are enemies against him, the press is the enemy of the people and all this is fake.
