Is Donald Trump the first former U.S. president to face a criminal trial?

Donald Trump broke a lot of records as the 45th President of the United States. On top of serving as hands-down the most incompetent leader this nation has ever seen, he was also the first president to ever be impeached twice.

There are plenty of other firsts thrown in there, too, as the 77-year-old former president puts in the work to go down in history one way or another. He’ll certainly find a spot in our history books, but likely not for the good he did. Instead, he’ll live on in civics classes that educate the masses on the hundreds of thousands of lives lost due to his action (and inaction) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the insurrection he incited at our nation’s Capitol, and the rampant corruption that marks his tenure as one of the most demoralizing in American history.

He’ll also be chronicled for his current criminal trial, which — like everything Trump does — also served as first for our nation’s loftiest office.

Have any presidents other than Trump faced criminal trials?

Let’s not pretend that Donald Trump is our first president with criminal tendencies. Plenty of past Commanders in Chief have faced legal pushback during and after their times in office, but none have reached the severity of Trump’s current trial.

On April 15, 2024, Trump became the first president in American history to stand criminal trial when he appeared in a Manhattan court over hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels during his tenure in office. Trump appeared at the court with his typical dismissive attitude and ceaseless finger-pointing, maintaining his claims that he faces “political persecution” rather than well-earned consequences for his actions.

The trial is expected to last through May, according to Reuters, and requires the former president to be in attendance during its entire process. The serious situation he currently finds himself in was prompted, according to prosecutors, by the falsification of financial records in an attempt to cover up a more than $100,000 payment. Trump is pleading not guilty in the case, but prosecutors are determined to prove that assertion false.