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Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2022
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Jeffrey D. Grynaviski
Abstract
While there have been only three US Presidents formally impeached, this study identified 59 qualitatively different threats to 36 US Presidents, and to four Vice Presidents, through a broad historical search for documents in the congressional record for threats of impeachment. These threats are the focus of this dissertation, from the origin and causal factors behind them, to the partisan nature of impeachment in general. Through a careful examination of what constitutes an impeachment threat and its qualitative characteristics, to polarization and partisanship vis-à-vis Members of Congress threatening impeachment, I find that emotional intelligence and poor presidential behavior is in fact the key ingredient in impeachment threat intensification. I empirically verify this by developing a variable called impeachment threat intensity, using Mills’ method of similarity and agreement in comparative case study, and some basic statistical analysis. I develop a concept called the unsavoriness principle and identify structural conditions to better define what constitutes a high-risk presidency. Lastly, I examined seven Presidents threatened with impeachment. I then dichotomize “good guy” and “bad guy” Presidents with low, medium, and high emotional intelligence-based Likert scores in case studies.
Recommended Citation
Thompson, Robert Edward, "Emotional Intelligence And The Intensification Of Impeachment Threats To Us Presidents, 1789-2021" (2022). Wayne State University Dissertations. 3770.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/3770