Damaged Presidencies
Of the 43 presidents, how many presidents have been impeached? How many have been removed from office?
Of the 43 presidents, how many have been seriously damaged politically?
What protects a president?
What does a president need to protect himself from an impeachment or impeachment-like investigation of his presidency?
What key factor helped saved Reagan and Clinton from being brought down from power during their respective presidential scandals?
What should a president do if a subordinate (e.g., a key political advisor) gets caught doing something unethical or illegal?
Across the gamut of American history, what happens to presidents who lose the support of the base of their political party (i.e., the ideologues and party activists)?
Watergate
What was Nixon’s crime in the Watergate scandal?
What former president was central to Nixon’s cover-up story of the Watergate burglary?
Why were Cubans involved in the Watergate scandal?
Iran/Contra
What was illegal or unconstitutional about the Reagan administration’s actions in the
Iran/Contra scandal?
What was the connection between the Iranian arms deal and the Contra rebels fighting in
Nicaragua?
Why did the Iranians and Americans both feel cheated in the end?

Clinton/Lewinsky
What was Bill Clinton’s crime? What was the “smoking gun” evidence against Clinton?
Crime, Evidence, & Opposition Politics
If all of the factors were in place for an impeachment of Nixon, why wasn’t Nixon impeached by the US House?
All but one of the factors that make an impeachment more likely were in place for
Reagan. Which factor was the exception (i.e., the one that saved Reagan from an impeachment)?
The Battle for Public Opinion
Why did the public feel that the unconstitutional acts or crimes that Reagan and Clinton committed, respectively, were in a sense justified?
Which president prior to Nixon also conducted illegal wiretaps and cover-ups but was not punished politically, making Nixon feel that he was mistreated for not being given a pass for his crimes?
The Traditional Signs of Trouble?
How did perceptions of Reagan being senile actually help him politically?
What would George W. Bush’s opposition cite as his character flaw?
Does Obama face any traditional signs of trouble? If so, what are they?
Does Obama have any obvious character flaws?
Obama Scandals
Why did Obama wait so long to address the issue involving his birth certificate?
If the opposition cannot “get” the president, then they target a member of his team, the closer to the president the better. Who did the opposition targeted on the IRS scandal involving “tea party” and “patriot” groups?
In the end, who will be the likely target of the scandal associated with the Benghazi terrorist attack?

Conclusions
Is an impeachment or impeachment-like scandal a norm in the struggle for power in
American politics today?
Why wasn’t Bush43 impeached, given that there were so many who wanted him impeached?
Has Obama faced an impeachment or impeachment-like scandal?