All it took was a few strokes of a pen for Donald Trump and Joe Biden to add to a long and strange American tradition.
Presidential pardons date back more than two centuries to George Washington. This power, which has been bestowed upon thousands of Americans since then, remains a unique and highly subjective power.
Richard Nixon leaves office on August 9, 1974, boarding a helicopter and bidding farewell to his staff with a victory salute outside the White House. A month later, President Gerald Ford issued a full pardon to Nixon.
(Bob Daugherty/Associated Press)
“Generally speaking, the president can pardon any federal crime,” said Jeffrey Crouch, an assistant professor of law at American University in Washington, D.C. “Furthermore, the president can use pardons as many times as he wants.”
This power has led to controversial decisions, including the suspension of sentences for President Richard Nixon, officials involved in the Iran-Contra affair, and disgraced commodity trader Marc Rich. The list has gotten a little longer in recent weeks, as President Trump pardoned about 1,500 participants in the January 6 riot, and President Biden also pardoned some of their immediate family members.
The history of executive pardons is also marked by similarly controversial and sometimes eccentric examples that have faded from memory.
A sample is shown below.
1795: Whiskey Rebellion
In the early 1790s, Pennsylvania farmers tarred and feathered several government agents sent to collect new taxes on whiskey production. As violence spread, Washington, in his second term as president, personally led militia forces to quell what became known as the Whiskey Rebellion.
Washington decided in 1795 to issue the first presidential pardon, exonerating “all persons convicted of treason.” While strongly advocating the rule of law, he spoke of the need to “participate in the running of government with all moderation and kindness.”
1815: Pirate Jean Lafitte
During the War of 1812, the British military enlisted notorious Gulf of Mexico smugglers to help attack the American coastline. Mr. Laffite not only alerted American authorities; He and his crew proved important in defending New Orleans.
As a reward, President James Madison pardoned them for any “secret and illegal” acts they may have previously committed.
1830: George Wilson
This case showed that not all pardons are created equal.
President Andrew Jackson issued a presidential pardon, sparing Wilson from hanging for mail robbery, but not avoiding a lengthy prison sentence. Wilson refused.
Alarmed, officials turned to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Wilson had the right to veto. Historical accounts of what happened next are vague, with some saying he was hanged. Others suggest he accepted a subsequent pardon from President Martin Van Buren.
1858: Brigham Young
The Utah War of 1857-1858 began when U.S. Army soldiers marched west to install new governors in territory occupied by the Latter-day Saints and their leader Young. The year-long standoff was uneventful, but tensions led to Mormons attacking and killing more than 100 innocent people on a California-bound wagon.
Although President James Buchanan faced criticism for what was known as the “Buchanan Blunder,” the war ultimately ended when he pardoned Young and his followers who resisted the government. In return, they submitted to US rule.
1868: Confederate Army
President Andrew Johnson waited three years after the Civil War to issue a Fourth of July pardon to those who took part in what he called the “Rebellion.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson justified the action as a means to “promote and bring about full fraternal reconciliation among the whole nation.”
A 1925 photograph published in the Times shows Confederate veterans and others at Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the unveiling of the Confederate War Memorial.
(Los Angeles Times Archives/UCLA Library)
1971: Jimmy Hoffa
This notorious labor leader was sent to federal prison in 1967 on charges of jury tampering, fraud, and conspiracy. Nixon softened his sentence by requiring him to refrain from union activities. However, declassified documents show that the president’s inner circle sought to use Mr. Hoffa to gain Labor support for Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign.
A few years later, Hoffa disappeared under mysterious circumstances, never to be seen again.
Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa photographed in Washington, D.C. in 1959.
(Related news organizations)
1977: Vietnam Draft Dodger
On his first day in office, President Jimmy Carter granted a blanket amnesty to draft evaders, allowing thousands of young men to return home from Canada and other countries. It was part of his campaign pledge to address the unfinished business of the Vietnam War.
1977: “Tokyo Rose”
Born in Los Angeles and educated at UCLA, Iva Ikuko Toguri immigrated to Japan in 1941. After World War II, U.S. authorities used the so-called Tokyo Rose (a radio handle she never used) to describe several women who broadcast English-language radio programs aimed at lowering the morale of the U.S. military. One of them filed a complaint. She was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Nearly 30 years later, President Gerald Ford granted her an unconditional pardon after two prosecution witnesses said she had testified under duress.
This photo shows Iva Toguri Ikuko released from the Federal Correctional Institution for Women in Alderson, West Virginia, on January 28, 1956.
(Related news organizations)
1989: George Steinbrenner
The bombastic owner of the New York Yankees was convicted and fined but not jailed for making illegal contributions to President Nixon’s 1972 campaign. A few years later, President Ronald Reagan issued a pardon that did not erase Steinbrenner’s record, but restored his full citizenship.
2001: Patty Hearst
The newspaper heiress, who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army and later joined as “Tania”, was the subject of two presidential elections. Carter’s sentence for bank robbery was commuted in 1979, and then-President Bill Clinton granted him a full pardon on his last day in office.
In 1976, Patty Hearst was escorted and handcuffed to the inmate entrance of the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Building by two women.
(John Malmin/Los Angeles Times)
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