The Case for Impeachment by Allan J Lichtman - review
Some might think a book listing reasons to impeach President Trump is a little premature; some might think it is overdue. Allan J Lichtman, professor of history at American University in Washington DC, has been considering it since before Trump even stood on the Capitol steps to declare “America First”.
Two months before America went to the polls, Lichtman, who had predicted correctly the outcomes of eight previous elections, called it for Donald Trump. So pleased was The Donald that he sent a handwritten note: “Professor — congrats — good call.” Trump may write again in less friendly terms on Lichtman’s next prediction: that he will be impeached.
The term has fallen out of use in Britain but it remains a vital sanction in the American Constitution. Still raw from the revolution against George III’s Britain, the new-born United States devised a mechanism to remove a rotten leader without resorting to the gun.
Impeachment — putting the President or civil officers on trial before the Senate for “bribery, treason, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” — was its device. Deliberately broad in scope, it is as much about being unfit for office as having committed a specific crime. Only two presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Richard Nixon resigned just before his summons arrived.
Johnson, the vice-president who took over after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, was a pugnacious know-all who appealed to the white working classes, and undid much of the work Lincoln had done of post-Civil War reconstruction, restoring power to the Southern slave-owning elites. After a three-month hearing he was acquitted of the charges by one vote.
Nixon had a problem with paranoia, the truth, hacking — at least he did his own — and he made calls to foreign powers (Cambodia) for political profit. The parallels with Trump made by Lichtman are delicious. Curiously, he largely leaves Clinton — and his weakness for women — alone.
The rump of the book is a thumping catalogue of reasons why Trump is flirting with impeachment, neatly chaptered for lawyers or congressmen seeking grounds. For bribery and treason, investigate his business dealings and connections with Russia — both are already under scrutiny. For crimes, Trump’s reversal of efforts to combat climate change could count as a crime against humanity, ventures Lichtman. For misdemeanours, what about his treatment of women?
His argument races through 200 pages, with steam for more. But while impeachment is a way to avoid revolution, it still needs a smoking gun — and Lichtman hasn’t got it. This, like much of current US liberal journalism, is a thriller searching for a crime. When it arrives, Lichtman will take credit again but he’s not the Woodward or Bernstein of this piece.
£9.99, Amazon, Buy it now
