There are six main ways to remove a US president, short of overthrowing the government, here listed from the most frequently successful to the least:
Method #1: Term limit
- Time required: up to ten years
- Examples: Obama (2017), Bush (2009), Clinton (2001), Reagan (1989), Eisenhower (1961), etc.
- Remarks: Thanks to George Washington, the first president, the custom was to step down after eight years in office. Only Franklin Roosevelt was president longer (12 years). In 1951 the 22nd Amendment to the constitution set the limit to two and a half four-year terms (10 years).
Method #2: Voting the president out of office.
- Time required: up to four years
- Examples: Bush (1992), Carter (1980), Ford (1976), Hoover (1932), etc.
- Remarks: The chief means provided by the constitution, though it is way easier to win an election as president than as a challenger (see term limits). The election for president takes place every four years, the next one in 2020. There are no recall elections for president.
Method #3: Assassination
- Time required: a few seconds (but would take days to months to prepare)
- Examples: Kennedy (1963), McKinley (1901), Garfield (1881), Lincoln (1865).
- Remarks: To date this has been done by shooting the president. The US is awash in guns, but the president is heavily guarded, increasingly so with each attempt and more so now because of the fear of terrorism since 9/11.
Method #4: Getting the president to step down
- Time required: months to years (because of some sort of scandal)
- Examples: Nixon (1974), Johnson (1968), etc.
- Remarks: In 1968 Johnson decided not to run for a re-election, the Vietnam War having made him deeply disliked. In 1974 Nixon resigned after leaders of his own party in Congress persuaded him to step down – though by then there was clear proof that he was behind the cover-up of the Watergate break-in, a crime, enough to carry out:
Method #5: Impeachment and trial
- Time required: months
- Examples: Bill Clinton (1998) and Andrew Johnson (1868) were both impeached but neither were convicted
- Remarks: Article II, Section 4 of the constitution:
“The President … shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
It takes a majority of the House of Representatives to impeach and then two-thirds of the Senate to convict after trying him for the crime. Generally speaking, about a third of the president’s own party would have to agree to convict.
Method #6: 25th Amendment
- Time required: days, maybe weeks
- Examples: none so far
- Remarks: If the president is judged unable to carry out his duties, like if he goes mad, he can be removed by the vice president and a majority vote of the cabinet (the president’s top advisers). If the president disagrees, a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate are needed to confirm it. Downside: Would only work in clear-cut cases, particularly since the cabinet is generally packed with loyalists.
For those keeping track at home:
- House: 55% Republican
- Senate: 52% Republican
The 2018 mid-term elections are unlikely to change it that much: the House is deeply gerrymandered to favour Republicans while in the Senate 25 Democrats and Independents will be up for re-election compared to only 9 Republicans.
– Abagond, 2017.
See also:
- president
- gerrymandering
- 12 US presidential elections
- When President McKinley was assassinated
- 9/11
- Death of Outrage
519
Far be it for me to defend a creature as loathsome as Trump, but I am slightly worried that even theoretical discussion of assassination might attract the attention of the Secret Service. They are known for possessing very little nuance, but a great deal of paranoia. I feel like this post puts you at risk for no gain.
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@ tankermottind
Good point. I removed the only reference to Trump – the picture at the top.
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Abagond, now is a good time to change the banner too.
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I think Trump would need an ego saving excuse to resign. Perhaps those mean democrats won’t let me run my businesses as president.
I think about how much Obama aged in his first year at the white house.
Trump is already 70 and at high risk for Alzheimer’s with his family history.
I don’t see him being able to last 4 years.
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Pay attention to the Vice President!
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Even if the Tangerine dictator with small hands were to be impeached i hear Pence would be much worse so we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t.
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I think it was funny Trump made a fool of himself stating something happened in Sweden when nothing happened.
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But then they had riots in sweden:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39047455?post_id=1489932727_10212045464960486#=
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@v8driver
“But then they had riots in Sweden”
maybe trumps not that crazy after all. or maybe he just crazy like a fox.
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@V8driver
That happened after Trump’s speech. Almost like it was planned.
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@ Glenn
I changed that too. Thanks.
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My initial reaction to the trump/sweden faux pas wascmaybe he just blurted out something that was classified? It’s a definite possibility.
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Trump’s job approval rating is at 39% according to Pew, the lowest for a new president one month in since at least 1981.
But even more dramatic is the partisan divide: only 8% of Democrats and those who lean Democratic think he is doing a good job. Among Republicans and those who lean Republican it is 84%.
That 84% is typical for the president’s party, but the 8% is way below that for the out party, which since 1981 has run between 30% and 46%.
Source:
http://www.people-press.org/2017/02/16/1-early-public-attitudes-about-donald-trump/
Gallup, as of February 21st, puts Trump at 42%, up from 38% on the 16th. That puts him about where Nixon was a year before he resigned, when he was widely supsected of being behind Watergate but there was yet no proof – much like where Trump is now with the Russian scandal:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116677/presidential-approval-ratings-gallup-historical-statistics-trends.aspx
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polls are reliable. did they count the people that deserted the dem party? like me? and don’t lean toward it or the reps. or does hating dems mean you lean rep? I must be leaning rep because I’m leaning away from dems and will never vote for a dem for pres again.
but polls are reliable. tell me. did gallop predict a trump win?
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Reblogged this on Project ENGAGE.
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