“I Beg Your Pardon!” A Short List of Presidential Pardons

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The presidential pardon is a powerful, inalienable right granted to the President of the United States. It is the only right in the Constitution granted to the president in which judicial or legislative review be damned. With speculation swirling in the last days of the Bush presidency that George W. Bush will pardon all those involved in the illegal wiretapping scheme his administration came up with, I thought we could look at some other pardons throughout history.

The first pardon:
In 1791, the federal government decided to implement a tax on whiskey to help pay down the national debt, much to the chagrin of the distillers in the country, particularly in western Pennsylvania. In 1794, upset citizens took up a fully armed rebellion against the United States, and it was only after George Washington marched with 13,000 soldiers to the area that the rebels laid down their arms. The rebels, who could have been executed for treason, were pardoned by President George Washington.

The first refused pardon:
In 1829, George Wilson was convicted of robbery and sentenced to death by hanging. Andrew Jackson granted Wilson a pardon, but Wilson refused! The Supreme Court ultimately determined that an individual had the right to refuse a presidential pardon, and Wilson was executed.

The Civil War:
You would assume the biggest armed insurrection in American history would undoubtedly lead to many a hanging due to treason. However, Abraham Lincoln was very cunning when it came to his use of the pardon. He pardoned deserters and draft dodgers (executable offenses) to improve morale, he offered clemency to citizens of newly reconquered Confederate states, and offered clemency to former Confederate soldiers in exchange for an oath of allegiance to the United States. Andrew Johnson took this a step further and offered a blanket pardon to all Confederate soldiers, with no oath required.

A stolen pardon:
The Panic of 1907 was a financial crisis that was caused by certain nefarious bankers trying to corner the market on the stock of the United Copper Company. The scheme failed, and banks that had loaned money towards the scheme began failing. Charles Morse, one of the individuals involved, was convicted of violating federal banking laws and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Morse, who had exhausted all of his legal appeals, asked for a pardon from William Howard Taft, which was initially denied. While in prison, Morse fell ill and his doctors determined that he would die if he remained incarcerated, so Taft offered him a pardon. Morse was miraculously healed when he was released, and it was determined that he drank a concoction that caused his body to simulate organ failure, thus he was not actually in danger of death. In a cruel twist of fate, Morse outlived Taft by three years.

Thanks for the office:
Following the Watergate scandal, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford granted a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes Nixon may have committed. This remains contentious due to the fact that criminal proceedings had not even started against Nixon, and that there was a fairly obvious quid pro quo (given that Ford was Nixon’s VP, and the possible pardon was discussed before Nixon resigned).

You were right, Vietnam sucked:
On his first full day in office, Jimmy Carter offered a full pardon to all Vietnam War draft dodgers and resisters. This applied to anybody who resisted the Vietnam War, including people who fled the country, as long as they did not take an oath of citizenship from a foreign country during that time.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander:
Ronald Reagan pardoned Mark Felt (yes, the Mark Felt that exposed Watergate, i.e. Deep Throat) and Edward Miller, both of which were convicted of authorizing illegal surveillance operations against Vietnam war resisters.

Keep it in the family:
In 1984, Roger Clinton, brother of then-Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton, plead guilty to cocaine distribution and served a year in prison. Brother Bill subsequently granted Roger a pardon the day before the former left office.

Money can buy anything:
One of the most controversial pardons in history is that of Marc Rich, a commodities trader who was convicted in the early 1980s of tax evasion and illegally trading oil with Iran during the hostage crisis. Clinton granted Rich’s pardon hours before he left office, and it was later revealed that Rich’s former wife was a major donor to the Democratic Party and the Clinton Library.

What’s my rationale?:
George W. Bush has granted close to the fewest pardons in Presidential history. However, he did manage to pardon Leslie Owen Collier, a Missouri farmer convicted of killing bald eagles and using an illegal pesticide, helping to forever cement Bush’s place as public enemy #1 of the environment. However, Bush has shown incredible strength of character by not pardoning Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney’s chief-of-staff convicted of perjury in the Valerie Plame case. He did commute Libby’s sentence, but at least “Liar” will always be on Libby’s permanent record.

For more information on Presidential Pardons, visit Pardon Power at http://pardonpower.com/Index.htm