In his 1955 bestseller, Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy, then a Senator from Massachusetts, recounted the histories of several former members of the U.S. Senate whom he held out as exemplars of what he believed to be the highest civic virtue—political courage. In the book’s final chapter, Kennedy famously wrote: “For without belittling the courage with which men have died, we should not forget those acts of courage with which men … have lived … . A man does what he must—in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures—and that is the basis of all human morality.”

I recently had occasion to reread a chapter in Kennedy’s masterpiece, the one concerning Edmund Ross, the Senator from Kentucky whose deciding vote during the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson led both to Johnson’s acquittal and the end of Ross’ career. It speaks directly to the recent outcome in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and about the Republican members of the Senate responsible for it.