{"product_id":"impeachment-an-american-history-paperback","title":"Impeachment: An American History - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJon Meacham\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eTimothy Naftali\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003ePeter Baker\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFour experts on the American presidency examine the three times impeachment has been invoked--against Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton--and explain what it means today.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eImpeachment is a double-edged sword. Though it was designed to check tyrants, Thomas Jefferson also called impeachment \"the most formidable weapon for the purpose of a dominant faction that was ever contrived.\" On the one hand, it nullifies the will of voters, the basic foundation of all representative democracies. On the other, its absence from the Constitution would leave the country vulnerable to despotic leadership. It is rarely used, and with good reason. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Only three times has a president's conduct led to such political disarray as to warrant his potential removal from office, transforming a political crisis into a constitutional one. None has yet succeeded. Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for failing to kowtow to congressional leaders--and, in a large sense, for failing to be Abraham Lincoln--yet survived his Senate trial. Richard Nixon resigned in August 1974 after the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against him for lying, obstructing justice, and employing his executive power for personal and political gain. Bill Clinton had an affair with a White House intern, but in 1999 he faced trial in the Senate less for that prurient act than for lying under oath about it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the first book to consider these three presidents alone--and the one thing they have in common--Jeffrey A. Engel, Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali, and Peter Baker explain that the basis and process of impeachment is more political than legal. The Constitution states that the president \"shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors,\" leaving room for historical precedent and the temperament of the time to weigh heavily on each case. This book reveals the complicated motives behind each impeachment--never entirely limited to the question of a president's guilt--and the risks to all sides. Each case depended on factors beyond the president's behavior: his relationship with Congress, the polarization of the moment, and the power and resilience of the office itself. This is a realist view of impeachment that looks to history for clues about its potential use in the future.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJeffrey A. Engel\u003c\/b\u003e is the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJon Meacham \u003c\/b\u003eis a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer. The author of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestsellers \u003ci\u003eThomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, Franklin and Winston, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eDestiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, \u003c\/i\u003ehe is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, a contributing writer for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review, \u003c\/i\u003eand a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Meacham lives in Nashville and in Sewanee with his wife and children. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eTimothy Naftali\u003c\/b\u003e, the author or co-author of five books on presidential and international history, is a clinical associate professor of public service and of history at NYU. From 2007 to 2011, he was the founding director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and curator of its Watergate Gallery. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003ePeter Baker\u003c\/b\u003e is the chief White House correspondent for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and the author of four books.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 7.6 x 5.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 16, 2018\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397834981554,"sku":"9781984853783","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/2a0e8962c4cfd4adba3565e602dd342f.webp?v=1778039056","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/impeachment-an-american-history-paperback","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}