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History: Presidents in trouble At least nine presidents throughout the world have faced the threat of impeachment, but only one was thrown out of office. Most others chose to resign voluntarily. The reasons vary from allegations of wiretapping to an illegal purchase of a stolen luxury car. Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid was impeached in 1999, two years after his inauguration, over a financial corruption scandal. Gonzalez Macchi of Paraguay, who took office in 1999, faced impeachment last year for illegally purchasing a stolen luxury imported vehicle. Macchi's immediate predecessor was Raul Cubas Grau, who also faced impeachment in 1989 for allegedly masterminding the assassination of his vice-president. Grau resigned because of violent protests. The president most recently threatened with impeachment before Roh was pilot-turned-president Rolandas Paksas of Lithuania, whose parliament began the proceedings last month upon allegations that Paksas and his national security adviser maintained ties with Russian crime organizations. More famous cases include those of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton of the United States. The infamous "Watergate" scandal that broke out in 1972 involved a behind-the-scenes scheme to re-elect Nixon. Clinton was impeached on allegations of perjury involving a sexual relationship with a White House intern. After he apologized to the nation, Clinton remained popular until his eight-year tenure ended in 2001. The first president in history to face impeachment was Andrew Johnson of the United States, who served from 1865 to 1869. Other former presidents nearly subjected to impeachment include actor-turned-President Joseph Estrada of the Philippines on charges of bribery in 2000 and Fernando Collor de Mello of Brazil over corruption allegations in 1992. |
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