Notes from around the Human Experience…
I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR…OR NOT: Between FBI and Russia investigations, and the general, day in, day out tumult that has been, and will continue to be, the Donald Trump Administration, it is a bit more than idle curiosity that leads us to wonder if Trump will finish out his term.
FunFact: There are three ways a president can leave office before his term ends.
Leading Off: The most common way is by dying. Eight presidents, about 18 percent, have died in office.
Dry, Technical Matter: Four presidents William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren Harding and Franklin Roosevelt died of natural causes. Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F Kennedy were shot to death.
It is very difficult to kill a president nowadays, though it would probably be somewhat easier if the assassin disregarded his own survival. Trump is 72 and appears to be in good health, so it is not reasonable to expect him to die in office, which no one really wants anyway.
I Am Not A Crook…Well, Yes I Am: The second is by resigning. This has happened once, of course, when Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.
Even if investigations into Trump’s conduct vis-a-vis the FBI and the Russians show Trump’s conduct was anywhere from negligent to criminal, you can bet Trump will go down swinging. Nixon showed presidents can hold out for a very long time. Twenty-six months elapsed between the Watergate break-in and Nixon’s resignation, and Nixon only resigned when the family dog smacked him around and told him it was clear he would be impeached by the House of Representatives.
Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! A president of the United States can also be removed from office following impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction at a trial held by the Senate and presided over by the Chief Justice.
Get Out Your History Books: Three times the House Judiciary Committee has passed articles of impeachment against the president of the United States: against Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
Johnson and Clinton ended up being impeached by the entire House of Representatives. Johnson for violating the unconstitutional Tenure of Office Act while Clinton was caught being Bill Clinton. Both were tried and acquitted by the United States Senate.
The makeup of Congress is important. Johnson faced a Congress controlled by a group known as the Radical Republicans that were so hell bent on punishing the South after the Civil War they probably would have impeached and tried the Son of Man. Clinton was facing a GOP majority in both houses of Congress.
Trump, of course, has GOP majorities in both the House and Senate. The evidence required for a GOP House to impeach Trump would have to be Nixon-esque and – Washington being Washington – GOP Congressmen and Senators would have to find it in their own self-interest to impeach and convict Trump before anything would happen.
The Bottom Line: Taking everything into consideration – the complete fiasco Trump is presiding over and the 20/20 hindsight from the Nixon imbroglio – it is not completely unreasonable to conclude Trump might well not complete his term. It’s not completely certain, of course, but boy, it is tough not give it serious consideration.
GOING…GOING…GONE X 4: Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians becomes the eighth major league player to hit four home runs in one game on this date in 1959.
Playing in Baltimore, Colavito walked in the first before homering in the third, fifth, sixth and ninth innings. They were is 15-18th home runs of the season, and Colavito would finish 1959 leading the American League with 42 home runs.
The Post Game Show Is Brought To You By Old Style Beer: The Indians beat the Orioles 11-8.
Back To The Future: This feat was last accomplished, for the 17th time, by Scooter Gennett of Cincinnati this past Tuesday.
Mom, I’m Famous Again: James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr, escapes from a Tennessee prison on this date in 1977. Ray was apprehended two days later.
This was not Ray’s first escape from prison. He had escaped from a Missouri prison in 1967 by hiding in a truck and was on the lamb when he shot King in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
Please Pass The Dry, Technical Matter: Ray’s escape earned him a spot on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for the second time, making him one of only six people to make the list twice.
Thought For The Day: The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool. – Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Laureate, Physics 1965.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: The first person executed in the United States after Luis Monje in 1967 was Gary Gilmore, executed by the Utah in 1977.
Today’s Stumper: What month has seen the most major league players hit four home runs in one game? – Answer next time!
