The Pardon Power: From the Constitution to Today

The power a president is using when he grants clemency isn't new, and it isn't vague — it comes from one sentence in Article II of the Constitution, written specifically to be nearly unlimited.

Where it comes from

That single clause is the entire textual basis for the pardon power. Courts have interpreted it as one of the broadest, least checked powers granted to any branch of government: it covers federal crimes only (not state charges), it cannot undo an impeachment, and — per the Supreme Court's reading — it cannot be blocked by Congress or the courts once exercised. There is no requirement that a pardon go through the Department of Justice, no requirement that the recipient express remorse, and historically few limits on granting clemency before a case even goes to trial or before a sentence is served.

How it's been used

• 1795 — George Washington issues the first presidential pardons, to participants in the Whiskey Rebellion, establishing the precedent that clemency could follow an armed uprising against federal authority.
• 1865–1868 — Andrew Johnson issues sweeping pardons to former Confederate officials and soldiers as part of Reconstruction-era amnesty.
• 1974 — Gerald Ford pardons Richard Nixon for any offenses committed while in office, before Nixon was ever charged — one of the most controversial single pardons in U.S. history.
• 1977 — Jimmy Carter grants a blanket pardon to Vietnam-era draft evaders.
• 1992 — George H.W. Bush pardons six Iran-Contra defendants, including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, before their trials concluded.
• 2001 — Bill Clinton pardons fugitive financier Marc Rich on his final day in office — a case that became a byword for pardons following political and financial connections, after it emerged Rich's ex-wife had made substantial donations connected to Clinton.
• 2014–2016 — Barack Obama launches a Clemency Initiative focused on nonviolent drug offenders serving long federal sentences.
• 2017–2021 — Donald Trump's first term includes pardons for Joe Arpaio, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Charles Kushner, and a commutation (later a pardon) for Roger Stone, among others.
• Dec. 2024 – Jan. 2025 — Joe Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden and issues preemptive pardons to several family members and public officials in the final days of his term.
• 2025–present — Donald Trump's second term opens with clemency covering more than 1,500 people connected to January 6, and continues with a historically high volume of clemency actions bypassing DOJ's traditional review process. See Recent Pardons for documented cases.

What a pardon document actually looks like

Modern pardon warrants are plainer than popular imagination suggests — not ornate parchment, but a short, formally worded document. Michael Flynn's 2020 pardon, for example, is headed “Executive Grant of Clemency” under the President's name and title, followed by formal legal language identifying the recipient and offense, and closing with a signature and the Department of Justice seal. Older pardons can look different still: Gerald Ford's 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon was titled a “Proclamation of Pardon” and typed on plain letterhead with a handwritten signature.

Primary sources: National Archives — Pardon Records (RG 204); DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney.