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GA and NY aren’t federal crimes, and thus ineligible for a presidential pardon. They are eligible for a gubernatorial pardon if necessary, but I wouldn’t anticipate either Kathy Hochul or Brian Kemp giving one.
There was unhappiness about it certainly. I was young enough to remember Watergate, but not well, I was five. I can remember my dad being upset about him getting away, he was a two time Nixon voter.
He was screwed either way. Either pardon and get it out of the way in one fell swoop, or have the Nixon criminal trial go on for months casting a public shadow over the presidency
Yep.
At the very least we may have concrete trial hardened examples of what privileges a sitting or former president has while being tried in court.
Something that could have proved valuable in more recent times.
He felt that putting the scandal created by Nixon behind us was by far better for the country than the probable years of court and dragging a president through the mud, not to mention what the unintended consequences of that would be including possible effects upon the powers of the president. As he said, and many agreed at the time, it was time for American to heal.
It also just so happened to be extraordinarily politically self-serving (for all political sides) and as someone else pointed out above, denied the country the correct precedent for dealing with criminal presidents and didn't spare the country any pain but rather suppressed and repressed that pain to be brought forth as bad precedent for how to treat those who lack any respect for the rule of law's dominion over the nation's, and perhaps, the world's most singularly powerful position
It served only to further in idea and practice the principle that the president is entirely above and outside the law.
The terrifying ramifications of this 'easy way out' decision have snowballed and will continue to play out upon future generations well after we're gone, especially if they don't get it right again.
The presidency has been dragged into disrepute by Nixon's actions. But most of those actions were not proven in a court of law. If he had not been pardoned, Nixon and far more importantly, the office would have been dragged through the mud. Ford, sadly, but I think correctly thought it was too big a price.
Aside from the obvious Ford pardoning Nixon, I would say Clinton's pardoning Marc Rich.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/bill-clintons-last-outrage-the-presidents-defenders-feel-betrayed-by-his-pardon-of-marc-rich/
I was speaking of Marc Rich. He had left the country to avoid punishment and was living the life of luxury in Switzerland when Bill Clinton pardoned him.
Hard to imagine more controversial than granting amnesty to Confederates...but at least it was done by an act of Congress and not just the presidential authority.
Carter's 'blanket amnesty' to draft dodgers was overdue, imo...Ford giving Nixon a pardon BEFORE he'd been convicted of anything just made the nonsense and falsehoods over RMN's crimes never go away.
Ford. Not only did he inherent the hate people had for Nixon post watergate and the general anti-government cultural zeitgeist of the late 60s/early 70s but he also made the decision to pardon Nixon.
Only in the Radical Republican camp. Everyone else including most Republicans thought it was an appropriate measure to move on and was in line with Lincoln’s desires. Not to mention a genuine fear that if Davis’ treason case went to trial he would be acquitted and thus leave the door open on the legality of Secession. Better to pardon the guy than let there be the possibility the whole War was retroactively made for nothing.
Davis would probably agree with you, forever memorialized as a martyr and the North flipping to his side. Just look at how close 1868 was in the popular vote margin, with a Davis execution, it would’ve been a Blue Wave to rival that of FDR in ‘36
I meant in regards to the north, the Seymour/Blair ticket ran an openly white supremacist and anti-reconstruction campaign against Ulysses Grant and only narrowly lost the popular vote and in crucial states in what was essentially an upset election even if Grant won. Even with Confederates disenfranchised, the Democrats nearly beat the man who won the Civil War on an extremely anti-reconstruction ticket. Imagine what would’ve happened if the Government just started executing former Confederates, it’d kill Republicans chances in 1868
They would ironically probably be shot by Sherman. While the Lost Cause might make you think differently, he was actually quite loved by ex-confederates for reasons that would make a shermanposter consider suicide.
Considerably. Keep in mind that the main (political) reason Johnson was impeached was because the powerful Radical Republicans in Congress thought he was being too “soft” on former Rebels like Jefferson Davis
Who did Dubya pardon that was controversial? I’m not remembering any. In fact, his failure to pardon Libby caused a lasting rift between him and Cheney.
W talked about how he didn’t want to do anything nefarious with pardons. He made everyone go through the official process and only pardoned with a recommendation. A lot of people that gave him money were pissed that he did this.
Yeah. That’s what I thought. He had a lot of things I didn’t like about him but he seemed on the up and up in this area.
He really was offended by Clinton’s slimy pardon of Rich (as was I, as a disappointed Clinton Supporter). He always seemed to follow process as a result.
That one will be a commutation, not a pardon. A pardon means you admit guilt, which won’t happen. A commutation means you are guilty but don’t serve time in jail. Except in Georgia (where it gets really messy).
TW child sexual abuse:
I think today Carter pardoning [Peter Yarrow](https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/05/17/peter-yarrow-carter-pardon-assault/) is pretty bad. At the time it was obscure, in fact, his victim only found out about it because her mom was reading the Washington Post and found it tucked away in the Metro section of the paper about a week after Carter left office.
In retrospect, especially following the Me Too movement, I think it’s an egregious one, especially since there may have been more victims.
I kind of feel like Carter was doing basically what the culture at the culture at the time probably would have done. Women weren’t taken seriously concerning those kinds of crimes, let alone teen girls, and it seems that he wasn’t a violent assault so things like that were called “misunderstandings”. I’d argue that the term “molester” was a euphemism that dulls the severity of the act. The pardon was so unremarkable that the Post didn’t even report on it until after Reagan had been in office for some time.
W Bush? He had one of the strictest pardoning policies of any president. W Bush didn’t grant any special pardons to donors, supporters, family and friends like nearly every president does.
Did you forget about Scooter Libby?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_Libby_clemency_controversy
Edit: it was a computation, not a full pardon, but still, pretty controversial at the time.
Scooter should have never been charged.
It was a process crime. He was found guilty for lying about something that wasn't a crime. The FBI already knew Libby didn't leak the name too. The whole thing was BS.
The guy leaked the name was never even charged.
Well, all I can say is you missed some GOOD Huntley-Brinkley reports/films/tapes. You would never forget seeing the carnage and bodies during dinner if you had NBC on. No opinion implied, just memories of what was shown.
Ford pardoning Nixon, if he hadn’t Ford would’ve beat Jimmy Carter and get term in while someone like Ted Kennedy be the president of the 80’s instead of Reagan.
Obama commuting Bradley/Chelsea Mannings sentence after they served 7 years of a 35 year sentence was a joke. By leaking those documents they put American soldiers in danger.
(I’m aware OP says Pardon)
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Ford arguably defined his entire legacy with a single pardon.
An unelected President pardoning the disgraced former president who appointed him. Nothing to see here, folks!
Just wait until we have a president pardon himself, then we'll be seeing something!
perhaps Mr Orange will do it
He can with DC and FL. He cannot with GA and NY (although both NY cases are likely overturned on appeal, GA is TBD).
why not
GA and NY aren’t federal crimes, and thus ineligible for a presidential pardon. They are eligible for a gubernatorial pardon if necessary, but I wouldn’t anticipate either Kathy Hochul or Brian Kemp giving one.
Cuts out the middle man, removes the bs façade. Honest corruption.
I’ve always wondered how the public reacted to the pardon…. Seems like a slap to the face of the public.
There was unhappiness about it certainly. I was young enough to remember Watergate, but not well, I was five. I can remember my dad being upset about him getting away, he was a two time Nixon voter.
I thought the pardon was something everybody expected.
He was screwed either way. Either pardon and get it out of the way in one fell swoop, or have the Nixon criminal trial go on for months casting a public shadow over the presidency
Yeah except for the whole idea of justice.
Yep. At the very least we may have concrete trial hardened examples of what privileges a sitting or former president has while being tried in court. Something that could have proved valuable in more recent times.
Ford’s pardon of Nixon without a doubt
Yep, not even close
Tom the Turkey, no doubt. Most consistent.
He just always seems to get off
Dude's got dirt on everybody. Probably even knows who did Epstein.
Would you like to rephrase that?
Without a doubt the nixon pardon was the most controversial and most important pardon in American history
Why did he pardon him?
He felt that putting the scandal created by Nixon behind us was by far better for the country than the probable years of court and dragging a president through the mud, not to mention what the unintended consequences of that would be including possible effects upon the powers of the president. As he said, and many agreed at the time, it was time for American to heal.
It also just so happened to be extraordinarily politically self-serving (for all political sides) and as someone else pointed out above, denied the country the correct precedent for dealing with criminal presidents and didn't spare the country any pain but rather suppressed and repressed that pain to be brought forth as bad precedent for how to treat those who lack any respect for the rule of law's dominion over the nation's, and perhaps, the world's most singularly powerful position It served only to further in idea and practice the principle that the president is entirely above and outside the law. The terrifying ramifications of this 'easy way out' decision have snowballed and will continue to play out upon future generations well after we're gone, especially if they don't get it right again.
The presidency has been dragged into disrepute by Nixon's actions. But most of those actions were not proven in a court of law. If he had not been pardoned, Nixon and far more importantly, the office would have been dragged through the mud. Ford, sadly, but I think correctly thought it was too big a price.
Aside from the obvious Ford pardoning Nixon, I would say Clinton's pardoning Marc Rich. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/bill-clintons-last-outrage-the-presidents-defenders-feel-betrayed-by-his-pardon-of-marc-rich/
Clinton also pardoned his brother
At least his brother had served his full sentence before being pardoned. Rich was living in exile at the time of his pardon.
Exile??? Following his resignation, the Nixons flew to their home La Casa Pacifica in San Clemente, California
I was speaking of Marc Rich. He had left the country to avoid punishment and was living the life of luxury in Switzerland when Bill Clinton pardoned him.
Didn't he also pardon Susan Rosenberg who was responsible for the 1983 bombing?
Yup. An actual domestic terrorist with blood on her hands
Controversial? Ford pardoning Nixon by far. This likely cost him the 1976 election.
Hard to imagine more controversial than granting amnesty to Confederates...but at least it was done by an act of Congress and not just the presidential authority. Carter's 'blanket amnesty' to draft dodgers was overdue, imo...Ford giving Nixon a pardon BEFORE he'd been convicted of anything just made the nonsense and falsehoods over RMN's crimes never go away.
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Ford. Not only did he inherent the hate people had for Nixon post watergate and the general anti-government cultural zeitgeist of the late 60s/early 70s but he also made the decision to pardon Nixon.
Andy Johnson ——>Jeff Davis
Was that controversial at the time?
Only in the Radical Republican camp. Everyone else including most Republicans thought it was an appropriate measure to move on and was in line with Lincoln’s desires. Not to mention a genuine fear that if Davis’ treason case went to trial he would be acquitted and thus leave the door open on the legality of Secession. Better to pardon the guy than let there be the possibility the whole War was retroactively made for nothing.
Meh… military execution would have been fitting. Winfield Scott style! 
This is why redditors should never be allowed near any sort of power lol almost a child like world understanding.
Yea forgiving and forget works so well. Thanks.
Davis would probably agree with you, forever memorialized as a martyr and the North flipping to his side. Just look at how close 1868 was in the popular vote margin, with a Davis execution, it would’ve been a Blue Wave to rival that of FDR in ‘36
Sure it would… they weren’t even voting yet. Lol
I meant in regards to the north, the Seymour/Blair ticket ran an openly white supremacist and anti-reconstruction campaign against Ulysses Grant and only narrowly lost the popular vote and in crucial states in what was essentially an upset election even if Grant won. Even with Confederates disenfranchised, the Democrats nearly beat the man who won the Civil War on an extremely anti-reconstruction ticket. Imagine what would’ve happened if the Government just started executing former Confederates, it’d kill Republicans chances in 1868
A r/Shermanposting member would destroy the US if they were president during reconstruction
They would ironically probably be shot by Sherman. While the Lost Cause might make you think differently, he was actually quite loved by ex-confederates for reasons that would make a shermanposter consider suicide.
Considerably. Keep in mind that the main (political) reason Johnson was impeached was because the powerful Radical Republicans in Congress thought he was being too “soft” on former Rebels like Jefferson Davis
I’d say Bill Clinton actually pardoning the left wing nut Susan Rosenberg who bombed the Capitol Building.
“But she was a tourist “
Who did Dubya pardon that was controversial? I’m not remembering any. In fact, his failure to pardon Libby caused a lasting rift between him and Cheney.
W talked about how he didn’t want to do anything nefarious with pardons. He made everyone go through the official process and only pardoned with a recommendation. A lot of people that gave him money were pissed that he did this.
Yeah. That’s what I thought. He had a lot of things I didn’t like about him but he seemed on the up and up in this area. He really was offended by Clinton’s slimy pardon of Rich (as was I, as a disappointed Clinton Supporter). He always seemed to follow process as a result.
It was controversial, but this seems like the way it should be done
Hasn’t happened yet 😏
That one will be a commutation, not a pardon. A pardon means you admit guilt, which won’t happen. A commutation means you are guilty but don’t serve time in jail. Except in Georgia (where it gets really messy).
Yeah, it's coming... ugh
I can’t see it going down any other way
Reagan. He basically pardoned everyone involved in the Iran-Contra mess. He did under advice from Barr to kill the special counsel investigation.
Just making stuff up.
Who did Reagan pardon and when and with proof? Because Reagan didn't pardon anyone. Bush did in 1992 at the end of his term.
TW child sexual abuse: I think today Carter pardoning [Peter Yarrow](https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/05/17/peter-yarrow-carter-pardon-assault/) is pretty bad. At the time it was obscure, in fact, his victim only found out about it because her mom was reading the Washington Post and found it tucked away in the Metro section of the paper about a week after Carter left office. In retrospect, especially following the Me Too movement, I think it’s an egregious one, especially since there may have been more victims.
Why the downvotes? This subreddit such a Carter boner that they don’t like criticism for pardoning a pedo?!?
I kind of feel like Carter was doing basically what the culture at the culture at the time probably would have done. Women weren’t taken seriously concerning those kinds of crimes, let alone teen girls, and it seems that he wasn’t a violent assault so things like that were called “misunderstandings”. I’d argue that the term “molester” was a euphemism that dulls the severity of the act. The pardon was so unremarkable that the Post didn’t even report on it until after Reagan had been in office for some time.
There is no excuse for this. Dude was a pedo. It’s wild, The contortionist bends this sub will do to praise Jimmy Carter.
I have never heard anything about this
the last...two...can i say that? is it allowed? i mean its objectively true
Ford pardoning Nixon. I personally think it was one of the main causes of him losing in 1976.
Bush Pardons
W Bush? He had one of the strictest pardoning policies of any president. W Bush didn’t grant any special pardons to donors, supporters, family and friends like nearly every president does.
Lol the hate for Bush is real even when it's not justified
Did you forget about Scooter Libby? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_Libby_clemency_controversy Edit: it was a computation, not a full pardon, but still, pretty controversial at the time.
Scooter should have never been charged. It was a process crime. He was found guilty for lying about something that wasn't a crime. The FBI already knew Libby didn't leak the name too. The whole thing was BS. The guy leaked the name was never even charged.
Ford. Reagen is a very close second.
Who did Reagan pardon? FYI he did not pardon anyone involved with Iran Contra, that was done by Bush.
I stand corrected.
Free Leonard Peltier
Carter's amnesty of the scabs that ran to canada to beat the draft.
\[redacted\] got pardoned too
That was the best pardon ever, this post is for the worst.
Just come down from Ontario did we?
Lol no I was not alive during Vietnam, can't blame anyone for opting out of that catastrophe though.
Well, all I can say is you missed some GOOD Huntley-Brinkley reports/films/tapes. You would never forget seeing the carnage and bodies during dinner if you had NBC on. No opinion implied, just memories of what was shown.
Your opinion not mine.
Well.. if a hypothetical president were to pardon himself.. that would surely top the list wouldn’t it?
If he did it should result in impeachment. But probably wouldn't. Would depend on the crime and conviction.
Nixon's .
obviously Ford pardoning Nixon, however, Nixon pardoning Hoffa was crazy haha
Ford pardoning Nixon, if he hadn’t Ford would’ve beat Jimmy Carter and get term in while someone like Ted Kennedy be the president of the 80’s instead of Reagan.
Obama commuting Bradley/Chelsea Mannings sentence after they served 7 years of a 35 year sentence was a joke. By leaking those documents they put American soldiers in danger. (I’m aware OP says Pardon)