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


This is a partial list of people pardoned or granted clemency by the president of the United States. The plenary power to grant a pardon or a reprieve is granted to the president by Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution; the only limits mentioned in the Constitution are that pardons are limited to federal offenses, and that they cannot affect an impeachment process: "The president shall... have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment".
Though pardons have been challenged in the courts, and the power to grant them challenged by Congress, the courts have consistently declined to put limits on the president's discretion. The president can issue a full pardon, reversing a criminal conviction as if it never happened. A pardon can also be offered for a period of time to cover any crimes that may have taken place or stop any charges from ever being filed during that period. A pardon can be issued from the time an offense is committed, and can even be issued after the full sentence has been served. The president can issue a reprieve, commuting a criminal sentence, lessening its severity, its duration, or both while leaving a record of the conviction in place. Additionally, the president can make a pardon conditional, or vacate a conviction while leaving parts of the sentence in place, like the payment of fines or restitution. After George W. Bush attempted to rescind his pardon of Isaac Robert Toussie, the Department of Justice concluded that the pardon was not yet effective, since it had never been officially delivered to Toussie. Under this legal interpretation, posthumous presidential pardons appear to be merely ceremonial and have no effect, since they were never delivered to the recipient.
Pardons granted by presidents from George Washington until Grover Cleveland's first term were handwritten by the president; thereafter, pardons were prepared for the president by administrative staff requiring only that the president sign it. The records of these presidential acts were openly available for public inspection until 1934. In 1981, the Office of the Pardon Attorney was created and records from President George H. W. Bush forward are listed.

Summary

George Washington

President George Washington pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 16 people. Among them are:
president John Adams pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 20 people. Among them are:
president Thomas Jefferson pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 119 people. One of his first acts upon taking office was to issue a general pardon for any person convicted under the Sedition Act. Among them are:
Democratic-Republican president James Madison pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 196 people. Among them are:
Democratic-Republican president James Monroe pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 419 people. Among them are:
Democratic-Republican president John Quincy Adams pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 183 people. Among them are:
  • Captain L. O. Helland – arrested for having more passengers on board the vessel than were allowed by American law; pardoned in 1825
  • Wekau and Chickhonsic – Ho-Chunk leaders pardoned for their role in the Winnebago War

    Andrew Jackson

president Andrew Jackson pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 386 people. Among them is:
  • George Wilson – convicted of robbing the United States mails. Strangely, Wilson refused to accept the pardon. The case went before the Supreme Court, and in United States v. Wilson the court stated: "A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered; and if it is rejected, we have discovered no power in this court to force it upon him." While Wilson refused the pardon, he avoided being hanged unlike his accomplice who was. A report in The National Gazette of Philadelphia dated January 14, 1841, suggests that he was in prison for ten years until released. He received another pardon from President Martin Van Buren, which he accepted. However, the Smithsonian magazine has written that Wilson was hanged as a result of refusing the pardon.
  • Fontaine H. Pettis – Convicted of perjury, pardoned November 16, 1831

    Martin Van Buren

Democratic president Martin Van Buren pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 168 people. Among them are:
president William Henry Harrison was one of only two presidents who issued no pardons, the other being James A. Garfield. This was due to Harrison's death shortly after taking office.

John Tyler

Whig president John Tyler pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 209 people. Among them are:
  • Alexander William Holmes – sailor convicted of voluntary manslaughter ; pardoned

    James K. Polk

Democratic president James K. Polk pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 268 people. Among them are:
Whig president Zachary Taylor pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 38 people.

Millard Fillmore

Whig president Millard Fillmore pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 170 people. Among them are:
  • Daniel Drayton and Edward Sayres – convicted in the Pearl incident in 1848; pardoned

    Franklin Pierce

Democratic president Franklin Pierce pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 142 people.
  • Noah Hanson – free black man who was tried and convicted of assisting slaves to escape, convicted in 1851; pardoned in 1854; only known presidential pardon of a black person for Underground Railroad activities

    James Buchanan

Democratic president James Buchanan pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 150 people. Among them are:
president Abraham Lincoln pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 343 people. Among them are:
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 1864. Johnson pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 654 people. Among them are:
Republican president Ulysses S. Grant pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 1,332 people. Among them are:
Republican president Rutherford B. Hayes pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the convictions of 893 people. Among them is: