List of impeachments of heads of state

This is a list of formal impeachments, impeachment attempts or impeachment inquiries of presidents, or holders of other offices equivalent to a head of state.

Successful impeachments

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Successful removal from office by legislature is indicated in bold:

Name Country Title Date Charge(s) Result
Pedro Castillo (2nd time)   Peru President December 7, 2022 Moral Incapacity Impeached and removed from office by the Congress of Peru with 101 votes in favor (with 87 required) on December 7, 2022, following Castillo's attempted dissolution of the Congress of Peru and formation of an emergency government, and call for a constitutional convention to write a new constitution.[1]
Pedro Castillo (1st time)   Peru President March 14, 2022 Moral Incapacity Impeached by the Congress of Peru on March 14, 2022.[2] Acquitted on March 28, 2022.[3]
Sebastián Piñera   Chile President November 9, 2021 Openly infringing the Constitution and seriously compromising the honour of the nation[4] The Chamber of Deputies impeached Piñera by a razor-thin majority of 78 votes (out of 155).[5] Acquitted by the Senate on November 16, 2021.[6]
Ilir Meta   Albania President June 9, 2021 Failing to guarantee national unity by backing the opposition in elections[7] Impeached by the Parliament; overturned by the Constitutional Court on 16 February 2022, ruling that the accusations against him did not violate the constitution.[8][9][10]
Donald Trump (2nd time)   United States President January 13, 2021 Incitement of insurrection Impeached by the United States House of Representatives;[11] acquitted by the United States Senate on February 13, 2021.[12] The impeachment article was passed a week before Trump's planned departure from office and his term expired before the Article of Impeachment was delivered to the Senate to allow his trial to begin.
Martín Vizcarra (2nd time)   Peru President November 2, 2020 Moral Incapacity Impeached by the Congress of Peru on November 2, 2020. Convicted and removed from the presidency on November 9, 2020, by a supermajority vote. Succeeded in office by the President of Congress, Manuel Merino, through constitutional succession.[13][14] Merino would only serve six days, leaving office amidst mass public outcry and the killing of protesters.
Martín Vizcarra (1st time)   Peru President September 11, 2020 Moral Incapacity Impeached by the Congress of Peru on September 11, 2020. Acquitted on September 18, 2020.
Donald Trump (1st time)   United States President December 18, 2019 Abuse of power, obstruction of Congress Impeached by the United States House of Representatives;[15] acquitted by the United States Senate on February 5, 2020.[16]
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2nd time)   Peru President March 15, 2018 Moral Incapacity[17] Impeached by the Congress of Peru on March 15, 2018. Resigned from the presidency on March 21, 2018. Resignation accepted by Congress on March 23, 2018.
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (1st time)   Peru President December 15, 2017 Moral Incapacity[18] Impeached by the Congress of Peru on December 15, 2017. Acquitted on December 21, 2017.
Park Geun-hye   South Korea President December 9, 2016 Abuse of power Impeached by the National Assembly; removed by the Constitutional Court on March 10, 2017. Hwang Kyo-ahn served as acting president during the impeachment.[19]
Dilma Rousseff   Brazil President April 17, 2016 Violation of budgetary laws Suspended from presidential powers and duties on May 12, 2016; removed from office by the Federal Senate on August 31, 2016. First female president to be impeached. Succeeded in office by vice president Michel Temer.[20]
Václav Klaus   Czech Republic President March 4, 2013 Treason Impeached by the Senate, but rejected as moot by the Constitutional Court as his term in office had expired.[21]
Fernando Lugo   Paraguay President June 21, 2012 Nepotism, insecurity, improper land purchase Removed from office by the Senate on June 22, 2012; succeeded in office by vice president Federico Franco.[22]
Rolandas Paksas   Lithuania President March 31, 2004 Interfering in a privatization transaction, leaking classified information Removed by the Seimas on April 6, 2004. Succeeded in office by parliament speaker Artūras Paulauskas as acting president.[23]
Roh Moo-hyun   South Korea President March 12, 2004 Election law violations Impeached by the National Assembly; reinstated by the Constitutional Court on May 14, 2004.[24] Goh Kun served as acting president during the impeachment.
Abdurrahman Wahid   Indonesia President July 23, 2001 Attempting to dissolve Parliament Removed by the People's Consultative Assembly. Succeeded in office by vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri.[25]
Alberto Fujimori   Peru President November 22, 2000 Murder, bodily harm, two counts of kidnapping Fujimori announced his resignation on November 17, 2000. The resignation was rejected by the Congress of Peru, who voted to remove him from office four days later. Succeeded in office by Congress President Valentín Paniagua as constitutional president.[26] Was arrested in 2005 after years in exile, then pardoned by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2017 but the pardon was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Joseph Estrada   Philippines President November 13, 2000 Corruption Impeached by the House of Representatives of the Philippines; case went to impeachment trial at the Senate but the trial was aborted. Declared his resignation on January 20, 2001. Succeeded in office by vice president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.[27]
Bill Clinton   United States President December 19, 1998 Perjury, obstruction of justice Impeached by the United States House of Representatives; acquitted by the United States Senate on February 12, 1999.[28]
Boris Yeltsin   Russia President September 22, 1993 Violation of the Constitution Retained post after an armed standoff with the Supreme Council.[29]
Carlos Andrés Pérez   Venezuela President March 20, 1993 Embezzlement Found guilty by the Supreme Court of Venezuela on May 21, 1993; removed by Venezuelan National Congress on August 31, 1993. Succeeded in office by congress president Octavio Lepage as provisional president.[30]
Abolhassan Banisadr   Iran President June 20, 1981 Anti-revolutionary conduct, ties to political-militant organisations such as MEK Removed by Ayatollah Khomeini. Succeeded in office by the Provisional Presidential Council.[31]
Sukarno   Indonesia President March 12, 1967 Allegation of masterminding the 30 September Movement coup against himself Removed by MPRS. Succeeded in office by chairman of cabinet presidium General Suharto as acting president and later full president.[32]
Café Filho   Brazil President November 19, 1955 Coup d'état attempt to prevent Juscelino Kubitschek from taking office, leaving the presidency to Carlos Luz purposefully Barred from resuming the powers of presidency, after a self-declared incapacity on 8 November 1955, by the Federal Senate on November 22, 1955. The process occurred during the government of Nereu Ramos.[33][34][35]
Carlos Luz   Brazil President November 11, 1955 Coup d'état attempt to prevent Juscelino Kubtschek from taking office Removed from office by the Federal Senate on November 11, 1955. The impeachment process occurred in one day. Succeeded by president of Federal Senate Nereu Ramos.[36][37]
Andrew Johnson   United States President February 24, 1868 Violating the Tenure of Office Act Impeached by the United States House of Representatives; acquitted by the United States Senate on May 26, 1868.[38][37]

Resigned during the impeachment attempt

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Name Country Title Date Result
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2nd time)   Peru President March 21, 2018 Impeachment proceedings passed by congress. President resigned before scheduled trial vote.[18]
Robert Mugabe   Zimbabwe President November 21, 2017 Resigned before formal vote.[39][40]
Pervez Musharraf   Pakistan President August 18, 2008 Resigned before formal vote.[41] Was convicted in absentia in 2019 and sentenced to death.[42]
Fernando Collor de Mello   Brazil President September 1, 1992 Resigned from office on December 29, 1992. Succeeded in office by vice president Itamar Franco.[43]
Giovanni Leone   Italy President June 15, 1978 Resigned before formal vote.[44]
Richard Nixon   United States President August 9, 1974 Resigned before formal vote.[45] Was later pardoned by Gerald Ford.[46]

Failed impeachment attempts

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Name Country Title Date Result
Joe Biden   United States President May 18, 2023 Resolution referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, no further action taken [47]
Pedro Castillo   Peru President December 7, 2021 Vote for impeachment proceedings failed with Congress of Peru voting 46 for impeachment proceedings out of 52 votes needed. Exactly a year later, on December 7, 2022, Castillo was successfully impeached and removed following Castillo's 2022 self-coup attempt.[48]
Ilir Meta   Albania President July 27, 2020 The Albanian Parliament voted against Meta's impeachment over his unsuccessful attempt to cancel the 2019 local elections.[49]
Sebastián Piñera   Chile President December 12, 2019 The National Congress rejected a motion to impeach Piñera for failure to protect human rights, finding that it did not meet the constitutional threshold for impeachment.[50]
Martín Vizcarra   Peru President October 1, 2019 The Congress of Peru attempted to impeach and remove Vizcarra after the Peruvian president ordered the dissolution of congress as part of the 2019 Peruvian constitutional crisis. The vote was deemed illegitimate.[51]
Miloš Zeman   Czech Republic President September 26, 2019 Not passed[52]
Michel Temer   Brazil President June 9, 2017 Dismissed by the Superior Electoral Court.[53]
Rodrigo Duterte   Philippines President March 16, 2017 The House Justice Committee threw out the charge by unanimous vote.[54]
Jacob Zuma   South Africa President April 5, 2016 Not passed[55]
Benigno Aquino III   Philippines President July 21, 2014 The House Justice Committee threw out the charges by a vote of 54–4.[56][57]
Giorgio Napolitano   Italy President February 11, 2014 Not passed[44][58]
Traian Băsescu   Romania President July 29, 2012 Not passed[59]
Barack Obama   United States President March 7, 2012 Resolution referred to committee, no further action taken[60]
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo   Philippines President November 26, 2008 The House Justice Committee threw out the charges by a vote of 42–8.[61]
George W. Bush   United States President June 11, 2008 Resolution referred to committee, no further action taken[62]
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo   Philippines President November 26, 2007 Rejected by the House of Representatives of the Philippines through a vote of 184–1.[61][63]
Traian Băsescu   Romania President April 19, 2007 Not passed[64]
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo   Philippines President August 24, 2006 Rejected by the House of Representatives of the Philippines through a vote of 173–32.[61][65]
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo   Philippines President August 30, 2005 The House Justice Committee threw out the charges.[61][66]
Roh Moo-hyun   South Korea President May 14, 2004 Not passed in assembly[29]
Boris Yeltsin   Russia President May 15, 1999 Not passed[29]
Boris Yeltsin   Russia President March 28, 1993 Not passed[29]
Francesco Cossiga   Italy President December 7, 1991 Not passed[44]
Ranasinghe Premadasa   Sri Lanka President August 7, 1991 Rejected by the Speaker of the Parliament due to a lack of signatures.[67]
Getúlio Vargas   Brazil President June 16, 1954 Rejected by the Chamber of Deputies through a vote of 136–35.[68][69][70]
Andrew Johnson   United States President December 7, 1867 Impeachment resolution rejected by the United States House of Representatives 57–108.[71][72] Johnson later separately impeached in February 1868, but acquitted in impeachment trial.
James Buchanan   United States President June 16, 1860 Committee found that nothing had been done to warrant impeachment.[73]
John Tyler   United States President January 10, 1843 Impeachment resolution rejected by the United States House of Representatives 127–83.[74]

See also

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References

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  2. ^ PERÚ, NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO (March 14, 2022). "Pedro Castillo hoy | Congreso admitió moción de vacancia presidencial | VIDEO | Cuántos votos se necesitan para vacancia presidencial | Bruno Pacheco | Karelim López | Canal Congreso TV en directo | Maricarmen Alva | lbposting | POLITICA". El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  3. ^ "Peru's president avoids impeachment after marathon debate". Al Jazeera. March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  4. ^ "Chile's Sebastián Piñera faces impeachment bid after Pandora Papers". BBC News. October 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "Después de casi 22 horas de debate, Cámara aprueba acusación constitucional en contra del Presidente". emol.com (in Spanish). November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "Senadores rechazan acusación constitucional en contra del Presidente Piñera al no alcanzar el quórum necesario". emol.com (in Spanish). November 16, 2021.
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  12. ^ Reston, Maeve (February 12, 2021). "Republicans acquitted Trump again, but this time is different". CNN. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  13. ^ PERÚ, NOTICIAS EL COMERCIO (November 9, 2020). "EN VIVO | Martín Vizcarra | Vacancia presidencial | Congreso reanuda debate de pedido de destitución | POLITICA". El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved November 9, 2020.
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  56. ^ "Filed: First valid impeach complaint vs Aquino". Rappler. July 21, 2014.
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  59. ^ Bilefsky, Dan (July 30, 2012). "Romania's President Survives Referendum". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
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  67. ^ "Unsuccessful Impeachments and legal arguments". archives.dailynews.lk.
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  72. ^ "TO PASS THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT RESOLUTION. -- House Vote #119 -- Dec 7, 1867". GovTrack.us.
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