Allan J Lichtman

Americans have fought and died for the right to vote. Yet the world's oldest continuously operating democracy guarantees no one, not even citizens, the opportunity to elect a government. In this rousing work, the bestselling author of The Case for Impeachment calls attention to the founders' crucial error: leaving the franchise to the discretion of individual states.For most of US history, America's political leaders have considered suffrage not a natural right but a privilege restricted by wealth, sex, race, residence, literacy, criminal conviction, and citizenship. As a result, the right to vote has both expanded and contracted over time, depending on political circumstances. In the nineteenth century, states eliminated economic qualifications for voting, but the ideal of a white man's republic persisted through much of the twentieth century. And today, voter identification laws, political gerrymandering, registration requirements, felon disenfranchisement, and voter purges deny many millions of American citizens the opportunity to express their views at the ballot box.We cannot blame the founders alone for America's embattled vote. Allan Lichtman, who has testified in more than ninety voting rights cases, notes that subsequent generations have failed to establish suffrage as a universal right. The players in the struggle for the vote have changed over time, but the arguments remain familiar. Voting restrictions impose a grave injustice on the many disenfranchised Americans and stunt the growth of our democracy.

Professor Allan J. Lichtman, who has correctly forecasted thirty years of presidential elections, makes the case for impeaching the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.Impeachment will ?proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust,? and ?they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. ?(Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, 1788)Professor Allan J. Lichtman, who has correctly forecasted thirty years of presidential elections, makes the case for impeaching the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. TrumpIn the fall of 2016, Distinguished Professor of History at American University Allan Lichtman made headlines when he predicted that Donald J. Trump would defeat Democrat, Hillary Clinton, to win the presidential election.Now, in clear, nonpartisan terms, Lichtman lays out the reasons Congress could remove Trump from the Oval Office: his ties to Russia before and after the election, the complicated financial conflicts of interest at home and abroad, and his abuse of executive authority.The Case for Impeachment also offers a fascinating look at presidential impeachments throughout American history, including the often-overlooked story of Andrew Johnson?s impeachment, details about Richard Nixon?s resignation, and Bill Clinton?s hearings. Lichtman shows how Trump exhibits many of the flaws (and more) that have doomed past presidents. As the Nixon Administration dismissed the reporting of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as ?character assassination? and ?a vicious abuse of the journalistic process,? Trump has attacked the ?dishonest media,? claiming, ?the press should be ashamed of themselves.?Historians, legal scholars, and politicians alike agree: we are in politically uncharted waters. The durability of institutions is being undermined and the public?s confidence in them is eroding, threatening American democracy itself.The world wants to know where the United States is headed. Lichtman argues, with clarity and power, that for Donald Trump?s presidency, smoke has become fire.