<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Lamar Alexander played a crucial role in short-circuiting the first impeachment trial of President Trump when, as an influential Republican senator from Tennessee, he opposed calling witnesses and said the president’s attempts to pressure Ukraine didn’t meet the test for removal from office.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">His role in the second impeachment might have been quite different had he remained in office just a few more weeks.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">In his new memoir, “The Education of a Senator,” Mr. Alexander, 85, who is also a former governor, cabinet secretary and presidential candidate, writes with disgust about how the president exhorted the crowd that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and penetrated the Senate chamber in an effort to block certification of the election.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">He asserts that the president undermined the Constitution and assaulted the hallowed concept of the peaceful transfer of power.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“If those actions do not constitute a ‘high crime or misdemeanor,’ I do not know what does,” Mr. Alexander wrote in the book, which is subtitled “From J.F.K. to Trump.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="ImageBlock-3"><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Image</span><picture><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/15/multimedia/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=1800"/><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/15/multimedia/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=1200"/><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/15/multimedia/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=600"/><img alt="Senator Lamar Alexander smiles while giving a sideways glance from a booth." class="css-r3fift" decoding="async" height="401" sizes="((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 60vw, 100vw" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/15/multimedia/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/15/multimedia/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 600w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/15/multimedia/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 1024w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/05/15/multimedia/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv/00dc-lamar-2-gtmv-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 2048w" uri="nyt://image/ce8b3ebd-c03b-58cc-b6c0-f38c3c69f4c9" width="600"/></picture></div><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Mr. Alexander at the Capitol on the day of the first impeachment trial of President Trump in February 2020. </span><span class="css-iwa86d e1z0qqy90"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Al Drago for The New York Times</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div data-testid="Optimistic-4"><div class="css-kbghgg"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171d1bw"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" data-tpl="i" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and <a href="https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F05%2F17%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Flamar-alexander-republicans-trump.html&amp;asset=opttrunc">log into</a> your Times account, or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F05%2F17%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Flamar-alexander-republicans-trump.html">subscribe</a> for all of The Times.</p><hr/></div><div class="css-1g71tqy" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-content"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-63woee" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-spinner" data-tpl="sp" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><g fill="currentColor"><path d="M11.28 22.8a.72.72 0 1 0 1.44 0v-6.72a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72Z" opacity=".37"></path><path d="M17.766 21.16a.72.72 0 1 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.436a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.437Z" opacity=".26"></path><path d="M1.506 14.653a.72.72 0 0 0 .445 1.37l6.391-2.078a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.369l-6.39 2.077Z" opacity=".61"></path><path d="M5.07 20.314a.72.72 0 0 0 1.164.847l3.95-5.437a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165-.846l-3.95 5.436Z" opacity=".48"></path><path d="M22.049 16.022a.72.72 0 0 0 .445-1.37l-6.391-2.076a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.39 2.076Z" opacity=".17"></path><path d="M22.494 9.347a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.37l-6.391 2.078a.72.72 0 1 0 .445 1.369l6.39-2.077Z" opacity=".09"></path><path d="M6.234 2.84a.72.72 0 0 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.436a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.437Z" opacity=".87"></path><path d="M1.951 7.978a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.391 2.076a.72.72 0 1 0 .445-1.37l-6.39-2.076Z" opacity=".74"></path><path d="M18.93 3.686a.72.72 0 0 0-1.164-.847l-3.95 5.437a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165.846l3.95-5.436Z" opacity=".02"></path><path d="M12.72 1.2a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72a.72.72 0 0 0 1.44 0V1.2Z"></path></g></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Already a subscriber? <a class="css-z5ryv4" data-testid="log-in-link" href="https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F05%2F17%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Flamar-alexander-republicans-trump.html&amp;asset=opttrunc">Log in</a>.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Want all of The Times? <a class="css-z5ryv4" data-testid="subscribe-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2026%2F05%2F17%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Flamar-alexander-republicans-trump.html">Subscribe</a>.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div>