Fact check: Have any US Presidents been convicted of misdemeanors before or after taking office?

1. What the claims say — Presidents and misdemeanor convictions: separating assertion from evidence

The assembled analyses contain repeated statements that no prior president had been criminally convicted before and that the recent conviction of Donald Trump was the first of its kind, specifically a felony conviction, not a misdemeanor ^{[1] [4]}. One item lists federal politicians convicted of crimes but does not identify any president convicted of a misdemeanor; that directory covers members of Congress and other officials but omits presidential misdemeanor convictions ^[5]. The package therefore supports a consistent factual claim: there is no documented case in these sources of any U.S. president being convicted of a misdemeanor either before or after holding office ^{[5] [6]}.

2. The central case — Trump’s felony conviction and its framing in the sources

Multiple pieces in the dataset describe Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan and the immediate legal aftermath, including appeals arguing immunity and improper charges ^{[1] [2] [7]}. The reporting repeatedly frames this as a historic first — the first conviction of a former or sitting president — and underscores that these are felony convictions, which are categorically different from misdemeanors in severity, legal consequences, and public perception. The sources detail ongoing appeals and legal arguments but do not introduce or allege any misdemeanor convictions for Trump in the materials provided ^{[3] [7]}.

3. Historical and contextual sources — what’s present and what’s omitted

The dataset includes a list of federal politicians convicted of crimes and historical commentary on impeachment standards and presidential arrest history, but these pieces do not provide evidence of presidential misdemeanor convictions ^{[5] [8]}. One analysis notes an arrest of a sitting president in the past without elaborating on outcomes; the absence of specification strongly suggests no conviction for a misdemeanor is recorded in these sources ^[1]. The materials emphasize impeachment doctrines like “high crimes and misdemeanors,” but that constitutional term is distinct from criminal misdemeanor statutes, and the sources discuss it as a political-constitutional standard rather than as proof of criminal convictions ^[8].

4. Contrasting viewpoints and legal agendas visible in the reporting

The items in the package show different emphases: some pieces report the conviction and appellate filings in detail, others focus on historical significance and constitutional interpretation, and at least one presents a compiled list of convicted federal officials ^{[2] [8] [5]}. The reporting on Trump’s case includes defense arguments invoking presidential immunity and claims of politicization, while court filings and prosecutors frame the case as lawful felony prosecution; these conflicting frames reflect legal strategy and political messaging but do not introduce any evidence of misdemeanor convictions in the record provided ^{[3] [7]}.

5. What the evidence supports and remaining open questions

On the basis of these sources, the supported conclusion is clear: no U.S. president is identified here as having been convicted of a misdemeanor before or after taking office, and the high-profile, documented conviction in these materials is a set of felony counts against Donald Trump that are under appeal ^{[1] [2]}. Open questions that the sources do not resolve include whether more obscure local or historical matters exist outside the dataset that might qualify as misdemeanor convictions, and how constitutional impeachment language overlaps or diverges from criminal statutes; these gaps reflect limits in the provided materials rather than contradictory evidence ^{[5] [8]}.

6. Bottom line for readers seeking a concise answer

Based solely on the documents and analyses supplied, the concise, evidence-based answer is: no president cited here has been convicted of a misdemeanor either before or after taking office; the only documented criminal conviction in these materials involves felony counts against Donald Trump. The package provides robust coverage of that felony conviction and its appeals but contains no source asserting or documenting a presidential misdemeanor conviction, which means any claim that a president was convicted of a misdemeanor is unsupported by these specific materials ^{[1] [2]}.