WASHINGTON -- Profiting off of impeachment politics is an American tradition.
A quick search for 鈥淭rump impeachment鈥� on Amazon, for example, reveals dozens of results for impeachment-themed souvenirs, from 鈥淭rump and the Giant Impeachment鈥� T-shirts, to peach and mint flavoured 鈥淚m-peach-mint鈥� lip balm.
But long before U.S. President Donald Trump took office, or the internet for that matter, people set out to capitalize on the commotion surrounding impeachment trials.
Case and point: the 鈥淚mpeachment Polka.鈥�
Composed in 1868 by Charles Dupee Blake and recently unearthed by the American Antiquarian Society, the dramatic and upbeat song was published during the first ever impeachment of an American President -- Andrew Johnson.
鈥淚t was the hottest ticket in town,鈥� historian Brenda Winapple told 麻豆影视, speaking of the Johnson hearings.
鈥淭he journalists who were there were actually covering what people were wearing, whether they were sleeping, whether they were using their opera glasses. Women wore their finest.鈥�
As first reported by the , the 鈥淚mpeachment Polka鈥� was listed for sale at the height of the trial for 30 cents a copy and was in high demand.
鈥淚t does capture the mood,鈥� said Winapple, author of 鈥淭he Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation.鈥�
鈥淚t captures the anxiety and frantic movement 鈥� the sense of the unknown. And what better way to capture it than with music?鈥�
The sheet music, housed in the , has now been given a new life in the Trump impeachment era.
Michael Adcock, a pianist from the Washington Conservatory of Music, describes the song鈥檚 campiness factor as a seven on a scale from one to 10.
鈥淭he introduction kind of portends鈥� these rising figures that something serious is going to happen and then all of a sudden鈥� there鈥檚 this silly kind of tongue and cheek polka,鈥� Adcock explains.
Trump is only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.
On Friday, the Republican-controlled Senate narrowly rejected the Democrats鈥� demand to summon witnesses, all but ensuring Trump's acquittal. The vote means that the trial will not hear from Trump鈥檚 former national security advisor John Bolton, who penned a book that directly links Trump to the charges against him.
Final voting in the trial is scheduled for Wednesday, on the heels of Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night.
