Why Trump Should Not have Been Impeached

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Introduction

Donald Trump, former United States President, entered 2020 as the third head of state in history to be impeached joining the likes of President Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Trump also left office as the only head of state to be impeached twice. Trump is the 11th incumbent president to win party nominations but failed to be re-elected. To many, Trump was the was most divisive and controversial president in US modern history. However, despite all his faults, he enjoyed remarkable approval from his loyal supporters. We can agree that Trump has his faults and like a coin, he had his good side. I believe that President Trump should not have been impeached by Senate. Despite the controversies, Trump also had significant accomplishments in his tenure that remain part of his legacy.

President Trump Defeated Isis Caliphate and Killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

We can all agree that despite his many faults, it was during Trump’s victory that the US military successfully eliminated ISIS, a notorious terrorist organization. In 2014, ISIS shocked the world when it claimed a large swath of territory across Syria and Iraq and announced a caliphate. The holdings were the base for the caliphate and it was their base of operations for countless attacks across the world. In March 2019, after a five-year effort, the US military finally eliminated the terrorist group. It is said that President Trump failed in his mandate because he employed lies and deceit. This claim holds. On several occasions, Trump made false claims that the US defeated ISIS completely which exaggerated the success of the military against ISIS. Although the terrorist group lost its base of operations in the attack, it is estimated to have about 18,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq (Kazmierczak, 2019). Furthermore, the October 2019 raid led to the death of Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted terrorist. Without a doubt, Trump prioritizes issues of national security in his tenure and for this reason, I hold that his impeachment was uncalled for.

Trump Reshaped the Federal Judiciary

Another reason why Trump should not have been impeached is that he made a rather huge impact on the country’s justice system by remodeling the federal judiciary. Trump did this by installing 226 judges and three (3) supreme court justices for a lifetime appointment to the federal judge. On October 26th, 2020, barely a week until election day, Amy Coney was the third Supreme Court justice to be elected. By December 2019, 25% of court judges were Trump nominees (Healy, 2018). In just four years, Trump had appointed 54 judges to 13 circuit courts compared to former President Obama who appointed only 55 circuit judges in the two terms he served in the white house. This step was necessary as courts usually have the final say in politics which sets precedents that can reform the country for the years to come.

Constitutionally Former Presidents cannot be Impeached.

Constitutionally, the House of Representatives can impeach a president and the Senate is tasked with convicting him/her. These provisions point to the notion that a person who is not in office or aspires to do so cannot be impeached by the House. If a presidential candidate makes horrible mistakes while serving as governor, they cannot be impeached; but what about an ex-president? In the scenario of an ex-president, there is a strong argument pointing that they cannot be impeached if they are out of office. This is because the overall goal of impeachment is taking real-time action against officials that abuse authority.

Conclusion

Members of the public have varying opinions regarding whether impeaching President Trump was the right thing to do. In my viewpoint, the impeachment of President Trump was uncalled for three reasons; under his administration, the US military defeated ISIS, he helped in reshaping Federal Judiciary, and constitutionally, former Presidents cannot be impeached. Although Trump was surrounded by controversies, he had his good side. Although he was not reelected, his administration made tremendous achievements which will remain part of his legacy.

References

Healy, G. (2018). Indispensable Remedy: The Broad Scope of the Constitution’s Impeachment Power. Cato Institute.

Kazmierczak, A. (2019). The Liberals and Conservatives–The Impeachment of Donald Trump: A Competing Species Model. IJSSHR-International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 2(10), 01-10.