Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution contains the criteria for firing a President from his or her job:
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Databases: Start at the NCC Library's "Databases A-Z" page and select History from the "All Subjects" drop-down menu. Then choose these databases:
Gale In Context: U.S. History -- Click on the icon labeled "Browse Topics" that looks like a lightbulb and scroll down until you see "Presidential Impeachment."
Salem History -- At the search box, type "impeachment." When the list of results appears, click the category "History" on the left side of the screen. Then click the blue Search button. One of the documents you will see is the "Trump Impeachment Statement" made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Next, go back to the "Databases A-Z" list and choose Current/Controversial Issues from the "All Subjects" drop-down menu. Try these databases:
Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints -- Click on the icon labeled "Browse Topics" that looks like a lightbulb and scroll down until you see "Impeachment."
Issues & Controversies (Facts on File) -- Type "impeachment" in the search box. When the results appear, you will see a number of articles on the topic. Use the "Filter by Type" menu to select which type of article you need. The "Pro/Con Articles" section contains a helpful piece entitled:
Was the U.S. House of Representatives Right to Impeach President Donald Trump Twice?
Congress.gov -- To read the actual articles of impeachment brought against President Trump, and find out how each member of Congress voted, search this database of official U.S. House and Senate documents.
Library of Congress -- Has compiled an extensive bibliography of primary source documents from all presidential impeachments. Many of the materials are digitized and available online.
National Constitution Center -- This page has a helpful explanation of the power of Congress to impeach a president, as well as a discussion of the impeachable offenses.
Pew Research Center -- If you're interested in public opinion regarding the Trump impeachment, as well as finding out how it compares to the reaction to Clinton's impeachment, you'll find the survey data here.
U.S. House of Representatives -- This page gives an overview of the House's role in the impeachment process, as well as a complete list of everyone who has ever been impeached -- and why.
Up to this point in our history, only three U.S. presidents have been impeached:
Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, to avoid being impeached.
Although each president was accused of wrongdoing for different reasons, Congress still had to apply the same standard to all of these cases, to determine whether the president should be removed from office. See the box above for the wording of that standard, which is located in Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.
As in other areas of the law, impeachments involve examining decisions that have been made in the past, to find out how they apply to the current situation. When researching the impeachment of Donald Trump, for example, it is important to compare it to precedents that were set by previous impeachments, such as how the investigation and trial were conducted, and whether the severity of the president's misconduct was worse than that of past presidents, not as bad, or about the same. This helps Congress to decide whether the punishment of being removed from office is appropriate.