Fact: In 1868, President Andrew Johnson became the 1st United States President to be impeached.

U.S. House of Representatives

In light of current events, should we be concerned about impeachment being the new way to get even with our president? Is impeachment going to become the way how we handle disagreements in our government policies? It seems like impeachment is definitely drawing more and more attention in the last twenty years of our government's history.

The first American president to be impeached was Andrew Johnson, in 1868, to be exact.  After him, history does a big jump to 1998. That year, president Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives. And right now, we are facing the impeachment of our current president, Donald Trump.

I find it interesting that there is a time lapse of 130 years between the first impeachment in our country and the second one, but between the second and our current situation, we only have 21 years.  This fact makes me wonder if this is a result of how we are dealing with situations in our government in more recent years.

There are valid reasons for all three presidents to be impeached. I don't argue the fact that in all cases abuse of power was involved and they probably needed to be held accountable for those acts. Yet, we should stop and think if this is more of a new technique used to get even or to get somebody's way.

During the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the accusation was that Johnson breached the Tenure of Office Act by removing Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, from the Cabinet. In Bill Clinton's impeachment, the cause was charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Currently, president Donald Trump is being charged with Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. Those are all valid charges to bring an impeachment into the picture. They are accusations that could and should be proven before an authority and demand answers. 

My point is not the validity of the accusations, but the motives for how the impeachment took place. In all three cases, there is a lot of disagreement and people with very strong opinions on both sides of the political spectrum. It can be like watching an episode of Tom and Jerry.

Impeachment does not mean the removal of the president in itself, it just means to take the president in front of the appropriate authority to answer the accusations. It remains up to the Senate to decide if the president has to be removed from office or not. It reminds me of a teacher taking a student to see the principal. You are not totally in trouble until you get a chance to explain yourself to him or her. Then, he or she would decide your fate as a student.

In the news, we hear how our political parties fight one another constantly. It seems like they don't fight to build and improve our country but instead they flight to get their way. It is a constant back and forth of insults. Therefore, I do wonder if an impeachment these days has more to do with getting your way than it does keeping someone accountable for their actions.