Nixon’s highest approval rating in 1973 was 67% in January, per Gallup.
His rating had fallen below 50% by the time the Senate Judiciary Committee Select Committee on Presidential Election Activities began hearings on May 18th, which were not an impeachment inquiry.
In June, Gallup reported 19% support for impeachment. Nixon’s approval ratings remained in the 40s.
By the Saturday Night Massacre, support for impeachment had risen to 30%, and Nixon’s approval rating had fallen below that number. His ratings never recovered.
Congress formally opened impeachment proceedings on February 6, 1974.
Nixon’s obstruction attempt ended on July 24, 1974, when the Supreme Court ordered the handover of the tapes. Four days later, the House Judiciary Committee formally recommended impeachment. On that day, public support for impeachment hit 50% for the first time.
On August 8, 1974, Nixon resigned, with 57% of Americans supporting impeachment and 24% approving of Nixon.
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I have, of course, an opinion on the timing of any impeachment of Trump, but I’m not offering it here. Instead, I’d like to focus on two points, the first in favor of starting now, and the second in favor of waiting.
The first: Unlike Nixon, the *resident’s ratings floor looks pretty solid. Nixon’s support throughout most of his Presidency was heavily dependent on public support for his Vietnam policies. Ironically, the announcement of a peace plan, which resulted in that high January 1973 rating, may also have contributed to Nixon’s ratings free fall, as Americans began to turn their attention to the White House’s machinations. In the *resident’s case, however, that’s unlikely, as his ratings have held despite plenty of good reasons for them to dissolve. Opening an official impeachment inquiry might galvanize public opinion.
The second: Public support for Nixon’s impeachment was anemic when Congress began investigating. It only picked up as the revelations mounted: first by journalists, of course, but then thrust into the public consciousness by the hearings themselves. That slow, steady drip of damning information eventually brought the American public to impeachment support. It might do that here.
Just food for thought.