LibGuides: Impeachment: A guide to literature on its legal and political theories, and its history: History

Book literature on presidential impeachment

Impeached by David O. Stewart
ISBN: 9781416547495
Publication Date: 2009-05-12
By the author of "The Summer of 1787" comes a dramatic re-creation of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, which became the central battle of the struggle over how to reunite a nation after four years of war. bw photographs.
The Impeachers: the trial of Andrew Johnson and the dream of a just nation by Brenda Wineapple
ISBN: 9780812998368
Publication Date: 2019-05-21
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times * The New York Times Book Review * NPR * Publishers Weekly "This absorbing and important book recounts the titanic struggle over the implications of the Civil War amid the impeachment of a defiant and temperamentally erratic American president."--Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Soul of America When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Vice-President Andrew Johnson became "the Accidental President," it was a dangerous time in America. Congress was divided over how the Union should be reunited: when and how the secessionist South should regain full status, whether former Confederates should be punished, and when and whether black men should be given the vote. Devastated by war and resorting to violence, many white Southerners hoped to restore a pre-Civil War society, if without slavery, and the pugnacious Andrew Johnson seemed to share their goals. With the unchecked power of executive orders, Johnson ignored Congress, pardoned rebel leaders, promoted white supremacy, opposed civil rights, and called Reconstruction unnecessary. It fell to Congress to stop the American president who acted like a king. With profound insights and making use of extensive research, Brenda Wineapple dramatically evokes this pivotal period in American history, when the country was rocked by the first-ever impeachment of a sitting American president. And she brings to vivid life the extraordinary characters who brought that impeachment forward: the willful Johnson and his retinue of advocates--including complicated men like Secretary of State William Seward--as well as the equally complicated visionaries committed to justice and equality for all, like Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, Frederick Douglass, and Ulysses S. Grant. Theirs was a last-ditch, patriotic, and Constitutional effort to render the goals of the Civil War into reality and to make the Union free, fair, and whole. Praise for The Impeachers "In this superbly lyrical work, Brenda Wineapple has plugged a glaring hole in our historical memory through her vivid and sweeping portrayal of President Andrew Johnson's 1868 impeachment. She serves up not simply food for thought but a veritable feast of observations on that most trying decision for a democracy: whether to oust a sitting president. Teeming with fiery passions and unforgettable characters, The Impeachers will be devoured by contemporary readers seeking enlightenment on this issue. . . . A landmark study."--Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Grant

Frost/Nixon - The Complete Interviews by Frost, David
Publication Date: 1977
The Final Days interview delves into Nixon's last days in the White House; his emotional meeting with Henry Kissinger; the CIA intervention in Chile; Nixon's view of reporters Woodward and Bernstein; his personal taxes and foreign bank accounts, and his pardon from President Ford; ultimately, giving us a glimpse of Nixon, the man.
The Impeachment Diary by James Reston; Walter E. Dellinger (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9781950691180
Publication Date: 2019-10-15
This eyewitness account of the impeachment process against Richard Nixon--which historian Robert Dallek wrote "could not be more timely"--holds lessons for now. James Reston, Jr., took leave from teaching during the summer of 1973 to witness the Senate Watergate Committee hearings as he worked with his coauthor on what became the first full-length book to advocate for Richard Nixon's impeachment. During the following summer, he returned to Washington, DC, to witness the final act of the impeachment drama, attending the Watergate trials, Supreme Court deliberations over executive privilege, and House Judiciary Committee hearings to consider and eventually vote on articles of impeachment. In the exciting days after the smoking gun tape was revealed, Reston joined the throng of reporters at the White House, hungry for news of Nixon's response. When he arrived in Washington, he decided to keep a diary. The Impeachment Diary is his contemporaneous account of those heady, uncertain times: when a president, having been investigated by a special counsel and Congress, was called to account for acts contrary to his oath and office, and fundamental questions about the Constitution were engaged. The diary offers lessons--both insights and cautions--for our own time. Former solicitor general of the United States and constitutional scholar Walter Dellinger has provided an introduction discussing the nature and meaning of impeachment and helping to draw the links between then and now.
Washington Journal by Elizabeth Drew
ISBN: 9781468309973
Publication Date: 2015-07-21
Re-issued forty years after the tumultuous events that led to Richard Nixon's historic downfall, a new edition of the legendary Elizabeth Drew's Washington Journal, featuring a brilliant new afterword. Originally published soon after Richard Nixon's resignation, Elizabeth Drew's Washington Journal is a landmark work of political journalism. Keenly observed and hugely insightful, Washington Journal opens in 1973 and follows the deterioration of Richard Nixon's presidency in real time. With her unprecedented access to the top figures, Drew's on-the-scene reporting is even more remarkable in hindsight, as Washington Journal does what no other book about that period has done or could do: captures the feeling of the period and reports in real time conversations with the key decision-makers as they made up their minds about the most fateful vote they would cast. It also shows us the sense of fear among both close observers and the citizenry, as well as their nervous laughter at the era's absurdities. Elizabeth Drew understands Richard Nixon as well as this most complex figure can be understood, and she shows how he brought himself down. In Washington Journal, Drew takes us along on what she calls "a wild ride through history." This new edition of Washington Journal includes an important new afterword, which reveals the fascinating--and frequently hilarious--story of Nixon's efforts to regain respectability after he'd been forced from office, and it also offers original insights into the meaning of Watergate and Richard Nixon. Rich with new information unavailable at the time, the afterword is a major addition to a truly unique and enduring work of reportage.
The Watergate Girl by Jill Wine-Banks
ISBN: 9781250244321
Publication Date: 2020-02-25
Obstruction of justice, the specter of impeachment, sexism at work, shocking revelations: Jill Wine-Banks takes us inside her trial by fire as a Watergate prosecutor. It was a time, much like today, when Americans feared for the future of their democracy, and women stood up for equal treatment. At the crossroads of the Watergate scandal and the women's movement was a young lawyer named Jill Wine Volner (as she was then known), barely thirty years old and the only woman on the team that prosecuted the highest-ranking White House officials. Called "the mini-skirted lawyer" by the press, she fought to receive the respect accorded her male counterparts--and prevailed. InThe Watergate Girl, Jill Wine-Banks opens a window on this troubled time in American history. It is impossible to read about the crimes of Richard Nixon and the people around him without drawing parallels to today's headlines. The book is also the story of a young woman who sought to make her professional mark while trapped in a failing marriage, buffeted by sexist preconceptions, and harboring secrets of her own. Her house was burgled, her phones were tapped, and even her office garbage was rifled through. At once a cautionary tale and an inspiration for those who believe in the power of justice and the rule of law,The Watergate Girl is a revelation about our country, our politics, and who we are as a society.
The Fall of Richard Nixon by Tom Brokaw
ISBN: 9781400069705
Publication Date: 2019-10-29
Bestselling author Tom Brokaw brings readers inside the White House press corps in this up-close and personal account of the fall of an American president. In August 1974, after his involvement in the Watergate scandal could no longer be denied, Richard Nixon became the first and only president to resign from office in anticipation of certain impeachment. The year preceding that moment was filled with shocking revelations and bizarre events, full of power politics, legal jujitsu, and high-stakes showdowns, and with head-shaking surprises every day. As the country's top reporters worked to discover the truth, the public was overwhelmed by the confusing and almost unbelievable stories about activities in the Oval Office. Tom Brokaw, who was then the young NBC News White House correspondent, gives us a nuanced and thoughtful chronicle, recalling the players, the strategies, and the scandal that brought down a president. He takes readers from crowds of shouting protesters to shocking press conferences, from meetings with Attorney General Elliot Richardson and White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig, to overseas missions alongside Henry Kissinger. He recounts Nixon's claims of executive privilege to withhold White House tape recordings of Oval Office conversations; the bribery scandal that led to the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew and his replacement by Gerald Ford; the firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox; how in the midst of Watergate Nixon organized emergency military relief for Israel during the Yom Kippur War; the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court that required Nixon to turn over the tapes; and other insider moments from this important and dramatic period. The Fall of Richard Nixon allows readers to experience this American epic from the perspective of a journalist on the ground and at the center of it all. Advance praise for The Fall of Richard Nixon "A divided nation. A deeply controversial president. Powerful passions. No, it's not what you're thinking, but Tom Brokaw knows that the past can be prologue, and he's given us an absorbing and illuminating firsthand account of how Richard Nixon fell from power. Part history, part memoir, Brokaw's book reminds us of the importance of journalism, the significance of facts, and the inherent complexity of power in America."--Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Soul of America

An interview with Tom Brokaw about this book

Aftermath by Leonard V. Kaplan (Editor); Beverly I. Moran (Editor); Craig Calhoun (Editor); Georgi Derluguian (Editor)
ISBN: 9780814747438
Publication Date: 2001-08-01
With the specter of prosecution after his term is over and the possibility of disbarment in Arkansas hanging over President Clinton, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and the events that have followed it show no sign of abating. The question has become what to do, and how to think, about those eight months. Did the President lie or was it plausible that he had truthfully testified to no sexual relationship? Was the job search for Monica just help for a friend or a sinister means of obtaining silence? Even if all the charges were true, did impeachment follow or was censure enough? And what are the lasting repercussions on the office of the Presidency? Aftermath: The Clinton Impeachment and the Presidency in the Age of Political Spectacle takes a multi-disciplinary approach to analyze the Clinton impeachment from political perspectives across the spectrum. The authors attempt to tease out the meanings of the scandal from the vantage point of law, religion, public opinion, and politics, both public and personal. Further, the impeachment itself is situated broadly within the contemporary American liberal state and mined for the contradictory possibilities for reconciliation it reveals in our culture. Contributors: David T. Canon, John Cooper, Drucilla Cornell, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Robert W. Gordon, Lawrence Joseph, Leonard V. Kaplan, David Kennedy, Kenneth R. Mayer, Beverly I. Moran, Father Richard John Neuhaus, David Novak, Linda Denise Oakley, Elizabeth Rapaport, Lawrence Rosen, Eric Rothstein, Aviam Soifer, Lawrence M. Solan, Cass R. Sunstein, Stephen Toulmin, Leon Trakman, Frank Tuerkheimer, Mark V. Tushnet, Andrew D. Weiner, Robin L. West.
An Affair of State by Richard A. Posner
Call Number: KF5076.C57 P67 1999
ISBN: 9780674000803
Publication Date: 1999-09-01
President Clinton's year of crisis, which began when his affair with Monica Lewinsky hit the front pages in January 1998, engendered a host of important questions of criminal and constitutional law, public and private morality; and political and cultural conflict.
The Breach by Peter Baker
Call Number: KF5076.C57 B35 2000
ISBN: 9780684868134
Publication Date: 2000-09-18
Offers a perspective on the Lewinsky scandal, impeachment of the president, and the overwhelming media coverage.

The Case for Impeaching Trump by Elizabeth Holtzman
ISBN: 9781510744776
Publication Date: 2019-01-01
"Elizabeth Holtzman has always been the first and the bravest, the smartest and most trusted. She is the expert we need to deal with an accidental President who got there as a serial sexual harasser, a candidate who lost the popular vote, and an unsuccessful businessman who was born on third base and thinks he hit a home run. Now what? Ask Liz!"--Gloria Steinem In the era of Donald Trump, collusion, detention of immigrants, and fake news, it is important to hear what Elizabeth Holtzman has to say. She has been a principled leader and a persistent voice for equality and accountability since she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in 1973, which she remained for forty-two years. But she sees American democratic ideals, and the rule of law in the United States, eroding under President Trump. And as a member of the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Nixon, and one of the members of the Homeland Security advisory council who resigned in protest of President Donald Trump's policy of separating families at the border, former Congresswoman Holtzman knows that of which she speaks: "President Donald Trump threatens our democracy. He lies, attacks our constitution, assaults the press, and obstructs justice. He causes unfathomable damage. The Constitution has a remedy for presidents who commit 'great and dangerous offenses': impeachment. A fair, lawful, bipartisan impeachment inquiry into President Trump means getting to the bottom of things. It means analyzing with a clear head and heart what President Trump has done and what the law requires. Impeaching a president is a grave undertaking. The compassionate and diverse America I know demands we get ready to do it." The Case for Impeaching Trump establishes the requirements for impeachment as set out by the Constitution and proves that President Trump's actions have already met those requirements. Holtzman makes the definitive, constitutional case that Trump can be impeached--and the process should start now.
Impeach: the case against Donald Trump by Neal Katyal and Sam Koppelman
ISBN: 9780358391166
Publication Date: 2019-11-26
Why President Trump has left us with no choice but to remove him from office, as explained by celebrated Supreme Court lawyer and former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal. No one is above the law. This belief is as American as freedom of speech and turkey on Thanksgiving--held sacred by Democrats and Republicans alike. But as celebrated Supreme Court lawyer and former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal argues in Impeach, if President Trump is not held accountable for repeatedly asking foreign powers to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, this could very well mark the end of our democracy. To quote President George Washington's Farewell Address: "Foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government." Impeachment should always be our last resort, explains Katyal, but our founders, our principles, and our Constitution leave us with no choice but to impeach President Trump--before it's too late.
The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump by Alan Dershowitz
ISBN: 9781510747715
Publication Date: 2019-01-01
One of America's most respected legal scholars--a Democrat--explains why impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump would be a bad idea for America. In the 2018 New York Times bestseller The Case Against Impeaching Trump, Alan Dershowitz lamented how American political discourse has devolved into hypocrisy and the criminalization of political differences in the rush to impeach President Trump. Arguments to impeach Trump failed Dershowitz's "shoe on the other foot test," or his political golden rule: Democrats must do unto Republicans what they would have Republicans do unto them, and vice versa. Since then, we've only become more divided--and the impeachment power wielded by the n Democratic majority in the House of Representative threatens to further polarize the country. The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump includes and expands upon Dershowitz's 2018 book. It puts recent political events, including the hyper-partisan Kavanaugh hearings, the unrestrained power of the Mueller investigation, and the generally intolerant current political discourse, into context. American democracy, Dershowitz argues, is suffering from political hypocrisy. And two years of impeachment proceedings brought by the House, and the media circus that would undoubtedly surround them, is clearly not the answer. This book is Alan Dershowitz's plea for honest dialogue, for arguments that would be made even if the shoe was on the other foot.
The Case Against Removing Trump by Alan Dershowitz
ISBN: 9781510742291
Publication Date: 2018-07-09
"A brilliant lawyer...A new and very important book. I would encourage all people...to read!"--President Donald J. Trump "Absolutely amazing.... If you care about justice...read this book."--Sean Hannity "Maybe the question isn't what happened to Alan Dershowitz. Maybe it's what happened to everyone else."--Politico Alan Dershowitz has been called "one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in America" by Politico and "the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer and one of its most distinguished defenders of individual rights" by Newsweek. Yet he has come under partisan fire for applying those same principles to Donald Trump during the course of his many appearances in national media outlets as an expert resource on civil liberties and constitutional law. The Case Against Removing Trump seeks to reorient the debate over impeachment to the same standard that Dershowitz has continued to uphold for decades: the law of the United States of America, as established by the Constitution. In the author's own words: "In the fervor to impeach President Trump, his political enemies have ignored the text of the Constitution. As a civil libertarian who voted against Trump, I remind those who would impeach him not to run roughshod over a document that has protected us all for two and a quarter centuries. In this case against impeachment, I make arguments similar to those I made against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton (and that I would be making had Hillary Clinton been elected and Republicans were seeking to impeach her). Impeachment and removal of a president are not entirely political decisions by Congress. Every member takes an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution sets out specific substantive criteria that MUST be met. I am thrilled to contribute to this important debate and especially that my book will be so quickly available to readers so they can make up their own minds."