Image - Michael Gerhardt and detail from his book cover
Image - Michael Gerhardt and detail from his book cover

Michael Gerhardt: The Law of Presidential Impeachment

President Joe Biden is being threatened with impeachment by the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives. His predecessor, Donald Trump, was twice impeached by a Democratic-led House. Three presidents earlier, Bill Clinton was impeached. No president has ever been removed from office as the result of an impeachment, but it continues to be a high-profile way to go after the president of the United States.

But what exactly is impeachment? Why is it included in the U.S. Constitution? How does the process work?

Constitutional scholar Michael Gerhardt offers a comprehensive, nonpartisan, and up-to-date explanation of the Constitution’s various mechanisms for holding presidents accountable for misdeeds real and imagined. He is the author of the new book The Law of Presidential Impeachment, which draws on a lifetime of scholarly research, as well as Gerhardt’s unique experience as a witness and consultant in the impeachment trials of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

Join us as Gerhardt offers new perspectives on impeachment, arguing that it cannot be properly understood in a vacuum, but must instead be viewed in the context of its coordination with such other mechanisms as criminal prosecutions, censure, elections, congressional oversight, and the Fourteenth and Twenty-Fifth Amendments.

NOTES

Photo courtesy of speaker.

Speakers
Image - Michael Gerhardt

Michael Gerhardt

Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence, University of North Carolina Law School; Author, The Law of Presidential Impeachment: A Guide for the Engaged Citizen

Image - Melissa Caen

In conversation with Melissa Caen

Host, “Get Out the Bet” Podcast; Political Analyst; Attorney; X @ConstitutionMel