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| Why Is Trump Finding More Protection Than Nixon Did? | |
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| Richard Nixon was a crafty president, at war with his political enemies but inclined to carry out most of his battles behind the scenes. Donald Trump trumpets his grievances, using public lashings to diminish his enemies and nip at allies who anger him. Nixon began his second term in January of 1973 with support from nearly 70 percent of the American people. Mr. Trump’s public approval has never hit 50 percent, according to the Gallup poll. Nixon saw his support steadily erode as details of the Watergate scandal trickled out. Mr. Trump’s support has held steady despite a fire hose of accusations. His approval rating stood at a typical 43 percent when the House opened its impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24. | Richard Nixon was a crafty president, at war with his political enemies but inclined to carry out most of his battles behind the scenes. Donald Trump trumpets his grievances, using public lashings to diminish his enemies and nip at allies who anger him. Nixon began his second term in January of 1973 with support from nearly 70 percent of the American people. Mr. Trump’s public approval has never hit 50 percent, according to the Gallup poll. Nixon saw his support steadily erode as details of the Watergate scandal trickled out. Mr. Trump’s support has held steady despite a fire hose of accusations. His approval rating stood at a typical 43 percent when the House opened its impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24. |
| Ultimately, Nixon resigned after losing the support of his own party, while Mr. Trump is likely to survive a Senate trial as he runs for re-election with strong backing from his party. The difference between the two embattled presidents isn’t necessarily measured best by the severity of the accusations or the solidity of the evidence against them. Instead, factors unrelated to the facts are shielding Mr. Trump to a degree that Nixon would have envied. What are they? Here’s our assessment of how the two impeachment dramas played out: | Ultimately, Nixon resigned after losing the support of his own party, while Mr. Trump is likely to survive a Senate trial as he runs for re-election with strong backing from his party. The difference between the two embattled presidents isn’t necessarily measured best by the severity of the accusations or the solidity of the evidence against them. Instead, factors unrelated to the facts are shielding Mr. Trump to a degree that Nixon would have envied. What are they? Here’s our assessment of how the two impeachment dramas played out: |
| Then: President Nixon was accused of trying to unlawfully influence the 1972 election. On June 17, 1972, five burglars linked to the Committee to Re-elect the President broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington’s Watergate complex. Though there is still debate about what the burglars were seeking, Nixon’s role in trying to cover up his campaign’s involvement became central to efforts to impeach him. | Then: President Nixon was accused of trying to unlawfully influence the 1972 election. On June 17, 1972, five burglars linked to the Committee to Re-elect the President broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington’s Watergate complex. Though there is still debate about what the burglars were seeking, Nixon’s role in trying to cover up his campaign’s involvement became central to efforts to impeach him. |
| Nixon faced three articles of impeachment but quit before the House voted on them. One was for abuse of power for refusing to comply with Congressional subpoenas, thus subverting the Constitutional scheme of government. He was also accused of obstructing justice by, among other things, paying off the burglars to encourage their silence and making false and misleading statements to investigators and to the public. Nixon also faced a third charge — that he misused the I.R.S., F.B.I., Secret Service and other government agencies to violate the constitutional rights of citizens. | Nixon faced three articles of impeachment but quit before the House voted on them. One was for abuse of power for refusing to comply with Congressional subpoenas, thus subverting the Constitutional scheme of government. He was also accused of obstructing justice by, among other things, paying off the burglars to encourage their silence and making false and misleading statements to investigators and to the public. Nixon also faced a third charge — that he misused the I.R.S., F.B.I., Secret Service and other government agencies to violate the constitutional rights of citizens. |
| Now: Like Nixon, Mr. Trump has found himself in trouble for allegedly trying to improperly influence his re-election. One of the two articles for which he was impeached by the House on Wednesday accused him of abusing his power by pressuring the government of Ukraine to announce an investigation into a potential opponent, Joe Biden, and his son Hunter, that would benefit Mr. Trump’s re-election. At the same time, he was withholding $391 million in badly needed, Congressionally approved military aid for Ukraine. According to the impeachment article, Mr. Trump sought to leverage the military assistance, as well as a White House meeting sought by Ukraine’s president, to “corruptly solicit” foreign election assistance. | Now: Like Nixon, Mr. Trump has found himself in trouble for allegedly trying to improperly influence his re-election. One of the two articles for which he was impeached by the House on Wednesday accused him of abusing his power by pressuring the government of Ukraine to announce an investigation into a potential opponent, Joe Biden, and his son Hunter, that would benefit Mr. Trump’s re-election. At the same time, he was withholding $391 million in badly needed, Congressionally approved military aid for Ukraine. According to the impeachment article, Mr. Trump sought to leverage the military assistance, as well as a White House meeting sought by Ukraine’s president, to “corruptly solicit” foreign election assistance. |
| Mr. Trump was also impeached on a charge of obstructing Congress. Other presidents have asserted executive privilege over certain documents or lines of questioning to a witness. But Mr. Trump directed every former or current official called before Congress not to testify. And he refused to turn over any of the other evidence requested by the House as part of its impeachment inquiry. As a result, House Democrats assert, the House could not exercise the oversight authority envisioned by the Constitution’s impeachment clause, or assert itself as a coequal branch of government. | Mr. Trump was also impeached on a charge of obstructing Congress. Other presidents have asserted executive privilege over certain documents or lines of questioning to a witness. But Mr. Trump directed every former or current official called before Congress not to testify. And he refused to turn over any of the other evidence requested by the House as part of its impeachment inquiry. As a result, House Democrats assert, the House could not exercise the oversight authority envisioned by the Constitution’s impeachment clause, or assert itself as a coequal branch of government. |
| Then: Nixon came to office prepared to do battle with the Civil Service bureaucracy, including the intelligence and foreign-policy establishments, which he felt had grown too independent of White House control. In May 1972, when the longtime F.B.I. director, J. Edgar Hoover, died, Nixon replaced him with L. Patrick Gray, a Justice Department official whom he hoped would be more responsive to the White House political agenda. The appointment of a new director from outside the F.B.I. infuriated many career employees, including W. Mark Felt, third in command under Mr. Hoover, who had hoped for the top job and also worried that Nixon’s attempt to politicize the bureau would undermine its independence. In 1972, after the Watergate burglary, Mr. Felt, the mysterious “Deep Throat,” began leaking information about the investigation to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post to push back against White House pressure to obstruct the investigation. Mr. Felt’s leaks kept the early Watergate story alive at a moment when Congress and other media outlets were paying only limited attention. | Then: Nixon came to office prepared to do battle with the Civil Service bureaucracy, including the intelligence and foreign-policy establishments, which he felt had grown too independent of White House control. In May 1972, when the longtime F.B.I. director, J. Edgar Hoover, died, Nixon replaced him with L. Patrick Gray, a Justice Department official whom he hoped would be more responsive to the White House political agenda. The appointment of a new director from outside the F.B.I. infuriated many career employees, including W. Mark Felt, third in command under Mr. Hoover, who had hoped for the top job and also worried that Nixon’s attempt to politicize the bureau would undermine its independence. In 1972, after the Watergate burglary, Mr. Felt, the mysterious “Deep Throat,” began leaking information about the investigation to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post to push back against White House pressure to obstruct the investigation. Mr. Felt’s leaks kept the early Watergate story alive at a moment when Congress and other media outlets were paying only limited attention. |
| Now: Like Nixon, Mr. Trump came to office suspicious of the intelligence community and eager to ensure that the F.B.I. would act in accordance with his political preferences. He quickly created an uproar when he fired the F.B.I. director, James Comey, in May 2017 in the midst of the agency’s investigation into Russian election meddling. What followed was a nearly two-year-long investigation by Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed by the Justice Department, to look into election interference. He ended up presenting evidence of possible obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump but stopped short of saying whether his conduct was illegal because of a Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president. | Now: Like Nixon, Mr. Trump came to office suspicious of the intelligence community and eager to ensure that the F.B.I. would act in accordance with his political preferences. He quickly created an uproar when he fired the F.B.I. director, James Comey, in May 2017 in the midst of the agency’s investigation into Russian election meddling. What followed was a nearly two-year-long investigation by Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed by the Justice Department, to look into election interference. He ended up presenting evidence of possible obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump but stopped short of saying whether his conduct was illegal because of a Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president. |
| Several months later, details of a whistle-blower complaint, reportedly from someone in the C.I.A., leaked out and set the stage for the impeachment inquiry. The complaint laid out a conversation between Mr. Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, in which Mr. Trump appeared to pressure him to investigate Mr. Biden and his son. The resulting investigation by Congress culminated in Mr. Trump’s impeachment. | Several months later, details of a whistle-blower complaint, reportedly from someone in the C.I.A., leaked out and set the stage for the impeachment inquiry. The complaint laid out a conversation between Mr. Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, in which Mr. Trump appeared to pressure him to investigate Mr. Biden and his son. The resulting investigation by Congress culminated in Mr. Trump’s impeachment. |
| Then: While the F.B.I. and Congress played key roles in the Watergate investigation, President Nixon also faced another investigative adversary: a special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, appointed in May 1973 by Attorney General Elliot Richardson. After the former White House aide Alexander Butterfield’s surprise disclosure of a secret White House taping system that captured the president’s conversations, Mr. Cox issued a subpoena for the White House tapes in October 1973, provoking Nixon to order the attorney general to fire him. Mr. Richardson and his deputy attorney general, William Ruckelshaus, both refused and resigned. It fell to Robert Bork, the solicitor general who suddenly found himself acting attorney general, to fire Mr. Cox. The episode became known as the Saturday Night Massacre. | Then: While the F.B.I. and Congress played key roles in the Watergate investigation, President Nixon also faced another investigative adversary: a special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, appointed in May 1973 by Attorney General Elliot Richardson. After the former White House aide Alexander Butterfield’s surprise disclosure of a secret White House taping system that captured the president’s conversations, Mr. Cox issued a subpoena for the White House tapes in October 1973, provoking Nixon to order the attorney general to fire him. Mr. Richardson and his deputy attorney general, William Ruckelshaus, both refused and resigned. It fell to Robert Bork, the solicitor general who suddenly found himself acting attorney general, to fire Mr. Cox. The episode became known as the Saturday Night Massacre. |
| Partly as a result of public outrage over those events, impeachment proceedings in the House began nearly seven months later. Nixon was also forced to approve the appointment of a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, who continued Mr. Cox’s efforts to obtain the tapes. His willingness to challenge the president in court brought Watergate to the Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously that Nixon would have to turn over the tapes. | Partly as a result of public outrage over those events, impeachment proceedings in the House began nearly seven months later. Nixon was also forced to approve the appointment of a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, who continued Mr. Cox’s efforts to obtain the tapes. His willingness to challenge the president in court brought Watergate to the Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously that Nixon would have to turn over the tapes. |
| Now: The Justice Department has helped Mr. Trump throughout the Ukraine affair. In March, Attorney General William P. Barr announced that he had concluded that Mr. Mueller had found insufficient evidence that the president obstructed justice. Mr. Trump immediately declared “a complete and total exoneration,” even though the attorney general noted that the report had not exonerated him. But Mr. Barr then waited more than three weeks before releasing the report to the public, enabling Mr. Trump and his allies to mount a counteroffensive that insulated the president from potentially worse fallout. Democrats chose not to include any of the conduct revealed in the report in the articles of impeachment. | Now: The Justice Department has helped Mr. Trump throughout the Ukraine affair. In March, Attorney General William P. Barr announced that he had concluded that Mr. Mueller had found insufficient evidence that the president obstructed justice. Mr. Trump immediately declared “a complete and total exoneration,” even though the attorney general noted that the report had not exonerated him. But Mr. Barr then waited more than three weeks before releasing the report to the public, enabling Mr. Trump and his allies to mount a counteroffensive that insulated the president from potentially worse fallout. Democrats chose not to include any of the conduct revealed in the report in the articles of impeachment. |
| In addition, the Justice Department declined to open a criminal investigation or appoint a special prosecutor in response to the whistle-blower complaint. And in the face of congressional investigations, department lawyers have made the argument that Congress cannot even go to court to enforce subpoenas calling administration officials to testify. | In addition, the Justice Department declined to open a criminal investigation or appoint a special prosecutor in response to the whistle-blower complaint. And in the face of congressional investigations, department lawyers have made the argument that Congress cannot even go to court to enforce subpoenas calling administration officials to testify. |
| Finally, by opening what would become a criminal inquiry into the origins of the F.B.I.’s investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016, Mr. Barr has given credence to Mr. Trump’s unfounded theory that people in American intelligence agencies worked against him. The attorney general has become perhaps Mr. Trump’s most effective defender, a sharp contrast to those who ran the Nixon Justice Department. | Finally, by opening what would become a criminal inquiry into the origins of the F.B.I.’s investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016, Mr. Barr has given credence to Mr. Trump’s unfounded theory that people in American intelligence agencies worked against him. The attorney general has become perhaps Mr. Trump’s most effective defender, a sharp contrast to those who ran the Nixon Justice Department. |
| Then: When the Senate Watergate committee demanded the tapes on which, it would turn out, Nixon discussed the break-in and cover-up, he refused to turn them over. The committee sued — the first time that Congress tested its subpoena power in court against a president’s claim of executive privilege. In May 1974, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit backed up the president, ruling that lawmakers hadn’t shown that the tapes were critical for them to fulfill their investigative or legislative duties. | Then: When the Senate Watergate committee demanded the tapes on which, it would turn out, Nixon discussed the break-in and cover-up, he refused to turn them over. The committee sued — the first time that Congress tested its subpoena power in court against a president’s claim of executive privilege. In May 1974, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit backed up the president, ruling that lawmakers hadn’t shown that the tapes were critical for them to fulfill their investigative or legislative duties. |
| But Mr. Jaworski, the special prosecutor, also wanted the tapes for his criminal prosecution of White House officials. When his lawsuit reached the Supreme Court, the justices voted unanimously to order Nixon to turn over the tapes. The decision, United States v. Nixon, has become a high-water mark for judicial independence. | But Mr. Jaworski, the special prosecutor, also wanted the tapes for his criminal prosecution of White House officials. When his lawsuit reached the Supreme Court, the justices voted unanimously to order Nixon to turn over the tapes. The decision, United States v. Nixon, has become a high-water mark for judicial independence. |
| Now: The House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Representative Adam Schiff, did not go to court to challenge the president’s defiance of its subpoenas. “We are not willing to let the White House engage us in a lengthy game of rope-a-dope,” Mr. Schiff explained, referring to what undoubtedly would be a long legal battle. | Now: The House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Representative Adam Schiff, did not go to court to challenge the president’s defiance of its subpoenas. “We are not willing to let the White House engage us in a lengthy game of rope-a-dope,” Mr. Schiff explained, referring to what undoubtedly would be a long legal battle. |
| Democrats may also worry about the answer they might get from the Supreme Court, with its five-justice conservative majority. After Mr. Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the court in the summer of 2018, a transcript came to light of the nominee saying in 1999 that “maybe Nixon was wrongly decided.” At his confirmation hearing, Judge Kavanaugh reassured the Senate that the ruling was “one of the greatest moments in American judicial history.” But that view doesn’t bind him. | Democrats may also worry about the answer they might get from the Supreme Court, with its five-justice conservative majority. After Mr. Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the court in the summer of 2018, a transcript came to light of the nominee saying in 1999 that “maybe Nixon was wrongly decided.” At his confirmation hearing, Judge Kavanaugh reassured the Senate that the ruling was “one of the greatest moments in American judicial history.” But that view doesn’t bind him. |
| Then: Throughout Watergate, Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, giving the party substantial influence over the machinery of impeachment. But because they didn’t have the two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove Nixon, Democrats knew they had to convince almost a dozen Senate Republicans to break ranks. Surprising as it may sound today, that wasn’t unthinkable then, even though Nixon had won re-election overwhelmingly, with a margin 17.8 million votes. The parties overlapped ideologically; there were conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans, as well as moderates in both parties. Nixon’s support among Republicans began to fall after the creation of the Senate Watergate Committee in February 1973 and bottomed out at around 50 percent in the spring of 1974 when the Watergate special prosecutor subpoenaed the White House tapes. With that loss of support, followed by the Supreme Court ruling in July ordering Nixon to turn over the tapes, about a third of the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee voted to move forward with articles of impeachment. Eleven days later, on Aug. 7, top Congressional Republicans met with President Nixon and essentially told him he wouldn’t survive a trial in the Senate. On Aug. 9, Nixon resigned. | Then: Throughout Watergate, Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, giving the party substantial influence over the machinery of impeachment. But because they didn’t have the two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove Nixon, Democrats knew they had to convince almost a dozen Senate Republicans to break ranks. Surprising as it may sound today, that wasn’t unthinkable then, even though Nixon had won re-election overwhelmingly, with a margin 17.8 million votes. The parties overlapped ideologically; there were conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans, as well as moderates in both parties. Nixon’s support among Republicans began to fall after the creation of the Senate Watergate Committee in February 1973 and bottomed out at around 50 percent in the spring of 1974 when the Watergate special prosecutor subpoenaed the White House tapes. With that loss of support, followed by the Supreme Court ruling in July ordering Nixon to turn over the tapes, about a third of the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee voted to move forward with articles of impeachment. Eleven days later, on Aug. 7, top Congressional Republicans met with President Nixon and essentially told him he wouldn’t survive a trial in the Senate. On Aug. 9, Nixon resigned. |
| Now: Today Republicans control the Senate, Democrats control the House, and Congress is significantly more polarized along ideological lines than it was in Nixon’s time. The Voteview project at UCLA, which calculates ideological scores for members of Congress, shows that on a scale of very liberal to very conservative, the median score for elected Democrats has increased by about 14 percent between 1974 and today while the median score for elected Republicans has nearly doubled. As politics has become more about tribes, so goes impeachment: Mr. Trump has rock-solid support in his party. Polls show the scant support for removing him among Republicans barely moving since the inquiry began. Not a single Republican in the House voted for either article of impeachment, while virtually every House Democrat did (two sided with Republicans on abuse of power; three on obstructing Congress). | Now: Today Republicans control the Senate, Democrats control the House, and Congress is significantly more polarized along ideological lines than it was in Nixon’s time. The Voteview project at UCLA, which calculates ideological scores for members of Congress, shows that on a scale of very liberal to very conservative, the median score for elected Democrats has increased by about 14 percent between 1974 and today while the median score for elected Republicans has nearly doubled. As politics has become more about tribes, so goes impeachment: Mr. Trump has rock-solid support in his party. Polls show the scant support for removing him among Republicans barely moving since the inquiry began. Not a single Republican in the House voted for either article of impeachment, while virtually every House Democrat did (two sided with Republicans on abuse of power; three on obstructing Congress). |
| Then: In the 1970s, Americans looking for news about Watergate found roughly the same story wherever they looked. By and large, the three major television networks and the big-city newspapers presented the same set of facts. The pace of news was daily, not hourly, with morning and afternoon papers and nightly news broadcasts. A month after the hearings began, 97 percent of Americans had heard of Watergate, and of those, 67 percent believed that Nixon participated in the cover-up. | Then: In the 1970s, Americans looking for news about Watergate found roughly the same story wherever they looked. By and large, the three major television networks and the big-city newspapers presented the same set of facts. The pace of news was daily, not hourly, with morning and afternoon papers and nightly news broadcasts. A month after the hearings began, 97 percent of Americans had heard of Watergate, and of those, 67 percent believed that Nixon participated in the cover-up. |
| The president and many of his supporters were convinced that the major news outlets, especially The New York Times and The Washington Post, were out to get him. But while Nixon included his press critics on his storied “enemies list,” he had few tools with which to push back and no way to amplify his own message on his terms. | The president and many of his supporters were convinced that the major news outlets, especially The New York Times and The Washington Post, were out to get him. But while Nixon included his press critics on his storied “enemies list,” he had few tools with which to push back and no way to amplify his own message on his terms. |
| Now: Today the media is fragmented and right-wing outlets offer a steady diet of Trump-friendly opinions and stories that distract from impeachment facts. In 1974, 69 percent of Americans trusted the mass media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” according to Gallup. Today the number is 41 percent, including only 15 percent of Republicans. John Dean, the former Nixon White House lawyer who flipped on the president, thinks it’s more likely that his boss “might have survived if there’d been a Fox News,” the only outlet a majority of Republicans say they trust. Mr. Trump also has his Twitter feed to drive news and reach his base directly. | Now: Today the media is fragmented and right-wing outlets offer a steady diet of Trump-friendly opinions and stories that distract from impeachment facts. In 1974, 69 percent of Americans trusted the mass media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” according to Gallup. Today the number is 41 percent, including only 15 percent of Republicans. John Dean, the former Nixon White House lawyer who flipped on the president, thinks it’s more likely that his boss “might have survived if there’d been a Fox News,” the only outlet a majority of Republicans say they trust. Mr. Trump also has his Twitter feed to drive news and reach his base directly. |
| Then: Initially, Mr. Nixon’s press secretary, Ronald Ziegler, tried to dismiss Watergate as a “third-rate burglary.” Mr. Nixon himself denied any knowledge of the break-in or a cover-up, and supposedly welcomed official attempts to get to the bottom of the affair. This strategy came back to haunt him in the summer of 1974, when the so-called “smoking gun” tape revealed that he had actively participated in a cover-up initiated within days of the burglary, and had recognized early on that the burglars’ arrests posed a significant threat to his presidency. The tape made him out to be a liar and ultimately doomed him. | Then: Initially, Mr. Nixon’s press secretary, Ronald Ziegler, tried to dismiss Watergate as a “third-rate burglary.” Mr. Nixon himself denied any knowledge of the break-in or a cover-up, and supposedly welcomed official attempts to get to the bottom of the affair. This strategy came back to haunt him in the summer of 1974, when the so-called “smoking gun” tape revealed that he had actively participated in a cover-up initiated within days of the burglary, and had recognized early on that the burglars’ arrests posed a significant threat to his presidency. The tape made him out to be a liar and ultimately doomed him. |
| Now: By releasing the summary of his call with President Zelensky after it was disclosed by the whistle blower, and publicly calling for Ukraine (and China) to investigate the Bidens, Mr. Trump gave the appearance of being forthcoming. Following his lead, his defenders argued (however implausibly) that his real goal was to ferret out corruption in a country that gets substantial American aid. He has blasted the impeachment as a “hoax” and “disgrace.” His stalwart base has echoed his defense and complaints. | Now: By releasing the summary of his call with President Zelensky after it was disclosed by the whistle blower, and publicly calling for Ukraine (and China) to investigate the Bidens, Mr. Trump gave the appearance of being forthcoming. Following his lead, his defenders argued (however implausibly) that his real goal was to ferret out corruption in a country that gets substantial American aid. He has blasted the impeachment as a “hoax” and “disgrace.” His stalwart base has echoed his defense and complaints. |
| Nixon’s resignation inspired predictions that the Republican Party would be finished for a generation, at least at the presidential level. But the partisan consequences proved to be less severe than anticipated. In the 1974 midterms, reform-minded Democrats — known as the “Watergate babies” — swept to power in Congress, and the Democrat Jimmy Carter won the presidential contest two years later. By 1980, though, the Republican Ronald Reagan was heading to the White House, leader of a powerful conservative coalition that would set the terms of national politics for the next several decades. | Nixon’s resignation inspired predictions that the Republican Party would be finished for a generation, at least at the presidential level. But the partisan consequences proved to be less severe than anticipated. In the 1974 midterms, reform-minded Democrats — known as the “Watergate babies” — swept to power in Congress, and the Democrat Jimmy Carter won the presidential contest two years later. By 1980, though, the Republican Ronald Reagan was heading to the White House, leader of a powerful conservative coalition that would set the terms of national politics for the next several decades. |
| Today, the same question arises: What might impeachment mean for partisan politics, especially the 2020 election. If Watergate suggests anything, it is just how hard it may be, in this fraught moment, to see what’s ahead. Over the long term, the fate of the parties — and of the country — will likely be determined less by what happens with impeachment than by the larger political and cultural trends that brought us to this impasse. They’re not going away. | Today, the same question arises: What might impeachment mean for partisan politics, especially the 2020 election. If Watergate suggests anything, it is just how hard it may be, in this fraught moment, to see what’s ahead. Over the long term, the fate of the parties — and of the country — will likely be determined less by what happens with impeachment than by the larger political and cultural trends that brought us to this impasse. They’re not going away. |
| Beverly Gage is a history professor at Yale and is at work on a biography of J. Edgar Hoover. | |