Impeached U.S. governors

When the Illinois senate voted 59-0 to remove governor Rod Blagojevich from office on January 29, 2009, it brought an end to yet another regretable story in the state’s often tawdry political history.

A legislative committee unanimously recommended on January 8 that Blagojevich be impeached for abusing his power, mismanaging the state government, and committing possible criminal acts.

The state’s house of representatives made Blagojevich the first governor impeached in the history of Illinois politics. That triggered a state senate trial to decide whether the second-term Democrat should be removed from office.

Thursday’s vote made Blagojevich the eighth governor in U.S. history to be impeached and removed from office.

Here’s the list:

William Holden, North Carolina, 1871

David Butler, Nebraska, 1871

William Sulzer, New York, 1913

James Ferguson, Texas, 1917

John C. Walton, Oklahoma, 1923

Henry S. Johnston, Oklahoma, 1929

Evan Mecham, Arizona, 1988

Rod Blagojevich, Illinois, 2009

To find out what the other seven did to warrant impeachment, visit the Associated Press.

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