Top 10 Most Controversial Pardons in US History
Just because you can, doesn't always mean you should. From pardoning a brother, to pardoning a hardened criminal, to pardoning a political donor, these presidential mistakes will go down in history. WatchMojo counts down the Top 10 Most Infamous Pardons in US History.
Special thanks to our user Strider Xanthos for suggesting this idea! Check out the voting page at WatchMojo.comsuggest/Top+10+Most+Controversial+Pardons+In+US+History.
Top 10 Most Infamous Pardons in US History
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Just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today, we’re counting down the top 10 most infamous pardons in US history. We’ll be combing through the most well-known and controversial presidential pardons in the history of the United States, and are not including only commutations (such as in the case of Chelsea Manning)
#10: Bill Clinton Pardons His Own Brother
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In a President’s final days in office, it’s become common for the commander-in-chief to issue pardons to those they believe should have their name cleared under the law. On his final day in office, President Clinton issued 140 pardons. Included among the recipients of these pardons were several questionable choices, including the President’s very own half-brother. Roger Clinton was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in the ‘80s, and had served a full sentence. The President’s decision to expunge his brother’s criminal record is a controversial one, especially considering Roger would be charged with drunk driving and disorderly conduct less than a year after he was pardoned.
#9: Richard Nixon Pardons Jimmy Hoffa
Though he’s since become famous due to his status as a high-profile unsolved disappearance, Jimmy Hoffa was once a tough union boss with a nasty reputation. After being convicted of bribery and fraud, Hoffa was less than 5 years into a 13 year sentence before President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence, on the condition that Hoffa agreed not to get involved in union work again. Due to Nixon’s strange habit of having every White House conversation recorded on tape, we now know that Nixon and Hoffa actually had an agreement in place that Hoffa would return to leading the Teamsters’ Union and support Nixon in his next election.
#8: Ronald Reagan Pardons Mark Felt and Edward Miller
As far as stories with twists and turns go, this one could stand up there with the best of them. Mark Felt and Edward Miller were both high-ranking FBI officials under the Nixon administration. During their time at the FBI, the two men authorized agents to break into the homes of political enemies and suspects without search warrants. The two men were prosecuted for their actions in 1980, but pardoned by President Reagan only a year later. The similarity of the men’s actions to the Watergate scandal would become extraordinarily ironic when it was revealed in 2005 that Mark Felt was the famous anonymous Watergate source known as Deep Throat.
#7: Donald Trump Pardons Joe Arpaio
The current President of the United States certainly hasn’t gone without his fair share of controversy. Though this might rank a little low compared to some of his other actions, Trump’s pardoning of infamous former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio definitely deserves a spot on this list. Arpaio was convicted of contempt of court in 2017 after disobeying court orders to stop his racial profiling policy. Two months later, Trump decided to pardon Arpaio, and made the announcement (you guessed it!) on Twitter, and during the middle of an intense hurricane no less. Many critics called the move impulsive and ill-advised, but none could argue with the legitimacy of the presidential pardon.
#6: George H. W. Bush Pardons Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Weinberger was a former U.S. Defense Secretary who played a key role in the notorious Iran-Contra Affair during the 1980s. The affair was a suspicious and poorly executed arms deal involving the United States, Israel, Iran and anti-socialist military forces in Nicaragua known as Contra. Weinberger resigned over the affair, and was preparing to go to trial over the incident in the early 90s when he was pardoned by the George H.W. Bush. Bush himself denied involvement in the Iran-Contra ordeal, but according the the president’s own diaries, he was one of the only people who came to know all the details.
#5: Donald Trump Pardons Scooter Libby
After first being granted clemency by President George W. Bush, Libby, the former chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney was granted a full pardon by President Donald Trump in April of 2018. Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007 regarding the case of CIA operative Valerie Plame, a critic of the Iraq War, whose identity was leaked. Libby’s case was an incredibly controversial one, and Trump’s pardon stirred up further controversy, and draw parallels to the ongoing Mueller investigation into any potential obstruction of justice on Trump’s part.
#4: Jimmy Carter Pardons Vietnam Draft Dodgers
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On his first day in office, President Jimmy Carter fulfilled a campaign promise by signing a pardon for anyone who both was convicted of dodging the Vietnam draft and requested a pardon for their actions. The move proved immensely controversial, ironically angering both the left and right. The right accused the act of being far too lenient for draft dodgers, and the left claimed that requiring a pardon was an unnecessary admission of guilt. Carter was unable to make either side happy, resulting in a pardon that will go down as notorious despite his good intentions.
#3: Andrew Johnson Pardons the Confederates
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After the death of Abraham Lincoln, it became the job of President Andrew Johnson to navigate the aftermath of the Civil War and guide the Reconstruction period. Johnson continued on Lincoln’s path of issuing pardons to some Confederate soldiers who swore a loyalty oath to the US, but began progressively offering more and broader pardons, and would eventually declare, on Christmas Day 1868, a full pardon for everyone who fought for the Confederacy, which provided immunity from official charges of treason. The wound of the American Civil War was still very fresh, and even today the scars remain, making this pardon a constant source of controversy.
#2: Bill Clinton Pardons Marc Rich
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Marc Rich is the 2nd person on our list to be pardoned by President Bill Clinton on his final day in office. Rich was a Wall Street investor and businessman who was indicted in 1983 for numerous charges, including tax evasion and trading with Iran while the country was actively holding American hostages. Upon learning he was being charged, Rich fled to Europe and evaded law enforcement for nearly 2 decades. It just so happens that Rich had previously given large sums of money to the Clintons as election contributions. But we’re sure that’s probably not related… right?
#1: Gerald Ford Pardons Richard Nixon
The Watergate scandal is one of the most notorious scandals of American history. The extensive and in-depth cover-up of wrongdoing by the Nixon administration would lead to the President’s resignation. There was, however, still potential for Nixon to be prosecuted criminally, until President Gerald Ford issued a complete, unconditional pardon for any actions Nixon had taken during his time as President. Many Americans recoiled at this, and Ford’s approval rating took a big hit. The pardon is still highly controversial today, with many Americans remembering the period as an especially dark one in the nation’s politics.
