In the wake of Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter Biden a few weeks ago for violating tax and gun laws, the concept of the presidential pardon is again under fire in the media. These criticisms are particularly aimed at the enormous reach that executive authority spans, and questions the personal motives and necessity for such an action. Biden, however, is not the first president to come under intense scrutiny for their presidential pardons. Throughout the history of the presidency, presidents have been accused of abusing this power for their own gain or for the political gain of their party. From Washington to the current age, this is a list of the most notable presidential pardons from each century of our nation’s history, from the 1700s, 1800s and 1900s.
George Washington (1795)
Immediately after the ratification of the Constitution, the presidential pardon was already in question. The Washington administration deeply angered citizens when they imposed an excise tax on certain alcohols made in the United States. In a scenario similar to today’s major issues, the tax was proposed by Alexander Hamilton to offset the tariffs on imported goods, as well as to fund his endeavor to create the national bank while handling debt incurred from the Revolutionary War. Hamilton’s national bank was not received well in areas such as Pennsylvania and a tax further sowed discontent, especially considering many whisky producers resided in these areas. As frustration grew, so did the protests. Public manifestations took place, and citizens were refusing to pay the tax and began harassing tax collectors. Eventually, these protests turned violent; a militia was formed and members burnt down a tax collector’s home. This caused Washington to enact the controversial Militia Act of 1792, which put the protests down using federal troops.
This action was deeply resented by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who viewed it as all too familiar to the actions England took against the colonies 20 years earlier. Hamilton believed that Washington did not act soon enough. Upon arrival at the uprising, Washington noted that aside from the arson against the tax collector, the rebellion was largely exaggerated by the press. Later in his presidency, he issued pardons to those tried for treason.
Andrew Johnson (1868)
Andrew Johnson became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and inherited a fractured country in the wake of the Civil War. A Southern Democrat born in Tennessee, Johnson never fully embraced the sentiments held by the North regarding how to handle the South post war. After the Civil War, he considered the best approach to focus on healing the nation and unity, leading him to issue a blanket pardon for most former Confederate leaders, military officers, and others who participated in the rebellion.
This leniency was not well received in the North, and angered many Republicans in favor of harsh measures against the South. Johnson repeatedly blocked many Reconstruction bills that provided freedoms and rights to the newly freed African-American population. There was an incredible amount of tension between Johnson and Congress and it came to a head when Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867, forbidding the president from removing top government officials without approval from the Senate. Johnson defied this and the House impeached him, although he was acquitted in the Senate. Johnson’s actions were not well received by the public, and he lost reelection.
Gerald Ford (1974)
There cannot be a list of most controversial pardons without Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon for the Watergate scandal. Nixon’s illegal actions started before he became president, notably during his campaign. Nixon influenced the South Vietnamese government to delay peace talks in order to enhance his campaign’s appearance over Hubert Humphrey, who was vice president under the current Lyndon B. Johnson administration. Utilizing these demands, Nixon promised the South Vietnamese that they would get a better deal under him, admonishing Humphrey’s campaign. Further questionable activities were proved in the Pentagon Papers, a study that analyzed the best strategy to the Vietnam War. The leak of these papers by the New York Times furthered public dissolution with the war.
Watergate is his most infamous crime, however, where five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC, during the presidential campaign. They attempted to wiretap the room and gather information on Nixon’s political opponents before they were arrested. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, reporters for The Washington Post, uncovered the ties between the burglars and Nixon’s re-election campaign. Investigations by the Senate Watergate Committee, spearheaded by special prosecutor Archibald Cox, revealed deeper involvement of high-ranking officials in the cover-up. Eventually Nixon was impeached, and he resigned from the presidency before he could be convicted on his charges by the Senate. His vice president, Gerald Ford, stepped into his role and controversially pardoned Nixon of any crimes he committed during his presidency. As expected, this was very unpopular with the public and Gerald Ford did not win reelection.
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