List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the President of the United States

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The following list of people pardoned or granted clemency by the President of the United States documents the most prominent cases of each presidency. As granted by the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1), Presidents have the power to grant clemency in one or more of the following ways: the ability to grant a full pardon, to commute a sentence, or to rescind a fine. U.S. Presidents have no power to grant clemency for crimes prosecuted under state law.

As to the difference between a pardon and a commutation:

Approximately 20,000 pardons and clemencies were issued by U.S. presidents in the 20th century alone. The records of acts of clemency were public until 1934. In 1981 the Office of the Pardon Attorney was created and records from President George H. W. Bush forward are now listed.[1] This list includes pardons and commutations.[2]

George Washington

President George Washington pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 16 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

John Adams

Federalist President John Adams pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 21 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Thomas Jefferson

Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 119 people during his term.[3] One of his first acts upon taking office was to issue a general pardon for any person convicted under the Sedition Act.[6]


Among them is:

James Madison

Democratic-Republican President James Madison pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 196 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

James Monroe

Democratic-Republican President James Monroe pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 419 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

John Quincy Adams

Democratic-Republican President John Quincy Adams pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 183 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Andrew Jackson

Democratic President Andrew Jackson pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 386 people during his term.[3] Among them is:

Martin Van Buren

Democratic President Martin Van Buren pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 168 people during his term.[3] Among them is:

William Henry Harrison

Whig President William Henry Harrison was one of only two presidents who gave no pardons. This was due to his death shortly after taking office.

John Tyler

Whig President John Tyler pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 209 people during his term.[3] Among them is:

James K. Polk

Democratic President James K. Polk pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 268 people during his term.[3] Among them is:

Zachary Taylor

Whig President Zachary Taylor pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 38 people during his term.[3]

Millard Fillmore

Whig President Millard Fillmore pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 170 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Franklin Pierce

Democratic President Franklin Pierce pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 142 people during his term.[3]

James Buchanan

Democratic President James Buchanan pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 150 people during his term.[3] Among them is:

Abraham Lincoln

Republican President Abraham Lincoln pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 343 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Andrew Johnson

Democratic President Andrew Johnson pardoned about 7,000 people in the "over $20,000" class by May 4, 1866. More than 600 prominent North Carolinians were pardoned just before the election of 1865.[14] President Andrew Johnson pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 654 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Ulysses S. Grant

Republican President Ulysses S. Grant pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 1,332 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Rutherford B. Hayes

Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 893 people during his term.[3] Among them is:

James Garfield

Republican President James Garfield was one of only two presidents who gave zero pardons. This was due to his assassination shortly after taking office.

Chester A. Arthur

Republican President Chester A. Arthur pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 337 people during his term.[3] Among them is:

Grover Cleveland

Democratic President Grover Cleveland pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 1,107 (est.) people during his two, non-consecutive terms.[3] Among them (in his first term) are:

Among the pardons in his second term is:

Benjamin Harrison

Republican President Benjamin Harrison pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 613 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

William McKinley

Republican President William McKinley pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 918 (est.) people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Theodore Roosevelt

Republican President Theodore Roosevelt pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 981 (est.) people during his term.[3] Among them are:

More are listed at the Presidential pardons page at Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt.

William Howard Taft

Republican President William H. Taft pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 758 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Woodrow Wilson

Democratic President Woodrow Wilson pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 2,480 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Warren Harding

Republican President Warren G. Harding pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 800 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Calvin Coolidge

Republican President Calvin Coolidge pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 1,545 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Herbert Hoover

Republican President Herbert Hoover pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 1,385 people during his term.[3] Among them are:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Democratic President Roosevelt granted 3,687 pardons in his four terms in office.[3] Among them are:

Harry Truman

Democratic President Harry Truman pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 2,044 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 1,157 people during his term.[16] Among them is:

John F. Kennedy

Democratic President John F. Kennedy pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 575 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

Lyndon B. Johnson

Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 1,187 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

Richard Nixon

Republican President Richard Nixon pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 926 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

Gerald Ford

Republican President Gerald Ford pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 409 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

Jimmy Carter

Democratic President Jimmy Carter pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 566 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

Ronald Reagan

Republican President Ronald Reagan pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 406 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

George H. W. Bush

Republican President George H. W. Bush pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 77 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

Bill Clinton

Democratic President William J. Clinton pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 459 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

George W. Bush

Republican President George W. Bush pardoned, commuted or rescinded the convictions of 200 people during his term.[16] Among them are:

Barack Obama

Democratic President Barack Obama has pardoned or commuted the convictions of 1,014 people during his term of office, as of November 2016.[25][16][26][27] Among them are:

See also

References

General references:

Specific references:

  1. Josh Clark. "How Presidential Pardons Work". howstuffworks.com. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  2. "Presidential Pardons". Jurist Legal Intelligence. Archived from the original on July 24, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Ruckman, Jr., P. S. (1995-11-04). "Federal Executive Clemency in United States". Archived from the original on 2011-03-26. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
  4. National Archives at Boston. US District Court, RI, Term 1791
  5. National Archives at Boston. US District Court, MA. 1798
  6. Slack, Charles (2015). Liberty's First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech. Atlantic Monthly Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-0802123428.
  7. Ingersoll, Charles Jared (1852). History of the second war between the United States of America and Great Britain: declared by act of Congress, the 18th of June, 1812, and concluded by peace, the 15th of February, 1815. 2. Lippincott, Grambo & Co. pp. 82–83.
  8. Preston, Daniel (2000). A Comprehensive Catalogue of the Correspondence and Papers of James Monroe [Two Volumes]. ABC-CLIO/Greenwood. pp. 788, et al. ISBN 978-0-313-31426-1.
  9. Hall, John W. (2009). Uncommon Defense: Indian Allies in the Black Hawk War. Harvard University Press. p. 92. ISBN 0-674-03518-6.
  10. "President James Buchanan, on His Next to Last Day in Office, Pardons a Judge". Shapell Manuscript Collection. SMF.
  11. "Abraham Lincoln: Deciding the Fate of 300 Indians Convicted of War Crimes in Minnesota's Great Sioux Uprising". historynet.com. June 12, 2006. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  12. p. 34, Vallandigham, Clement Laird. The Trial Hon. Clement L. Vallandigham by a Military Commission: and the Proceedings Under His Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio. Cincinnati, OH: Rickey and Carroll, 1863.
  13. "Abraham Lincoln Exercises Clemency". Shapell Manuscript Collection. SMF.
  14. Franklin, John Hope (1961). Reconstruction After the Civil War. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 33–34.
  15. Benjamin Harrison (January 4, 1893). "Proclamation 346 - Granting Amnesty and Pardon for the Offense of Engaging in Polygamous or Plural Marriage to Members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints". presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Presidential Clemency Statistics: 1900 to Present". US Department of Justice – Office of the Pardon Attorney. 2013-10-10. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  17. Brace, Ernest C. (1988-02-23). "A CODE TO KEEP: The True Story of America's Longest-Held Civilian Prisoner of War in Vietnam by Ernest%20C. Brace | Kirkus". Kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  18. Andrew Glass (January 21, 2008). "Carter pardons draft dodgers Jan. 21, 1977". Politico. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  19. 1 2 Ingram Chronicles, Forbes, 9/06/1999
  20. "Federal Presidential Pardon". Levin & Zeiger LLP. April 25, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  21. Craig Wolff (January 16, 1993). "Bush Frees Ex-U.S. Agent In Manhattan". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  22. Ken Rudin (January 26, 2001). "I Beg Your Pardon". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  23. "Statement of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton Following Today's Oral Argument Before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Re: United States of America V. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean" (PDF) (Press release). U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas. December 3, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
  24. Lisa Rose (November 30, 2008). "Talent and friends get singer John Forte out of jail". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  25. "Current fiscal year clemency statistics". U.S. Dept. of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney. November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  26. Bellware, Kim (September 9, 2013). "Report: Obama Could Pardon Sandi Jackson". Huffington Post.
  27. "President Obama Grants Pardons and Commutation". Office of the Press Secretary, the White House. December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Obama pardons 9 convicted of drug, other offenses". Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
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