It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Presidential Pardon Season!)

Most people look forward to the holiday season. A chance to get together with family and friends to celebrate the holidays and ring in the new year. But every four to eight years, it marks the beginning of something even more delightful; presidential pardons.

So this past week, President Trump pardoned Michael Flynn. It’s something that wasn’t particularly surprising (and this post isn’t about discussing the finer points of his conviction), but it did signal the start of something inevitable (and exciting!). Namely, the flurry of presidential pardons that an exiting president will issue right before he leaves office. It happens for every single administration. Sometimes it’s to right a past wrong, but most of the time it’s a way to pay off past favors right before you leave politics for good.

The funny thing is a lot of the pardons are granted after the person has already completed any jail time or probationary period. It’s like I know I already served my time, but hey Prez, how about clearing up my record for me. I’m a multi-millionaire, I can’t have this minor conviction hanging over my head.

With everything that has gone on in the Trump administration, I’m expecting a flurry of pardons to be granted in the next seven weeks. But Trump has some big shoes to fill if he wants to rank with the heavy hitters of the past few decades. Trump has only issued 28 pardons so far, which means he’s currently dead last. Clinton leads the pack of the more recent presidents, his total was 396, with Obama second at 212. That’s a lot of ground to gain with time running out.

But just to put you in the holiday spirit (again, the presidential pardon holiday), lets take a quick look at some of my favorite presidential pardons.

Susan B. Anthony, pardoned on August 18th, 2020, by Trump

In 1873, Susan was convicted of…voting. Yep, even came with it’s own $100 fine ($2200 in today’s money). She never paid a cent of it. On the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment being ratified (the one that gave women the right to vote), President Trump issued a presidential pardon. Susan B Anthony died over 114 years ago, but I guess it’s the thought that counts.

The last pardon issued by President Reagan before he left office was to erase a 1974 conviction of illegal campaign contributions and obstruction of justice. You see, George wanted to give more money than was allowed to the Nixon campaign, so he gave six employees bonuses (that they had to immediately give to the campaign), and then pressured them to keep quiet about it. His conviction carried a $15,000 personal fine, a $20,000 fine for his company, and 15 month suspension from baseball. It’s unclear where he found the strength needed to get through such trying times. The best part? One of his reasons for requesting the pardon was so that he could “contribute more of my services to the community.”

Roger Clinton Jr, pardoned on January 20th, 2001, by Clinton

President Clinton famously pardoned 140 people in the final hours of his presidency. The greatest pardon was the one issued to his little brother, Roger, over a 1985 conviction for cocaine possession and conspiracy to distribute. Some of the details that make this one so much fun:

• The arrest and conviction happened in Arkansas, while his brother was the sitting governor. I would have loved to see Bill’s face when he got that call.
• Roger already served his time in jail (sentenced to two years, unclear of how much he was actually incarcerated, at least a year?), so this was more about clearing his record. But you are the brother of the most important person in the world, so people will still know about your past even if it’s technically erased, right?
• There was also a post presidential investigation over what Roger had been up to on those last few days of his brothers presidency. It seems like he was accepting “gifts” from people that wanted presidential pardons. On President Clinton’s last day in office, Roger presented his brother with a list of people who he felt deserved pardons. His brother declined to pardon them.

George Wilson, pardoned(?) in 1830, Jackson

In 1829, George and a friend robbed a U.S. mail carrier and were subsequently caught and put on trail. They were charged and convicted of six different crimes (robbing the mail, putting the mail carriers life in danger, etc.), which resulted in a sentence of hanging. The friend saw his sentence soon carried out, but George’s path was different. It seems he had some influential friends, because he soon had a pardon from President Andrew Jackson. It’s unclear exactly which crimes the pardon covered, and if there was anything on George’s previous record, because the result of the pardon was that while he was saved from execution, he would still have to serve 20 years in prison. George declined. Faced with a swift date with the executioner, George refused to accept the pardon. The case actually went all the way to the Supreme Court, where in 1833 they ruled in his favor. And so in the end, he was hanged. At least I think he was. There might be a lack of actual records of what happened to him. And he might have declined the pardon because he was confused about what it actually did. Sounds like he needed some better lawyers. Either way, gotta love a guy that stands his ground, even if the alternative seems insane.

Happy Holidays.

-Kip