Presidents With the Most Pardons

President Joe Biden has not yet issued any pardons but has already received a considerable number of requests for clemency. The Biden administration has begun the process of granting clemency to inmates released early due to pandemic-related conditions in penitentiaries.

In December 1992, close to the end of his term, President George H.W. Bush pardoned six individuals who had taken part in the Iran-Contra affair under President Ronald Reagan, when Bush was vice president. The scandal involved senior administration officials secretly facilitating the sale of arms to Iran despite the arms embargo. Elliot Abrams, Caspar Weinberger, and others received pardons for unlawfully withholding information and perjury.

Trump pardoned several of his close political allies, including Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Steve Bannon. Some of their crimes were conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Bush’s last-minute pardons included rapper John Forte, who was serving a lengthy prison sentence for smuggling liquid cocaine through Newark, New Jersey’s international airport.

Cyber leaks became a major issue for the government during President Barack Obama’s time in office. Chelsea Manning leaked sensitive information to WikiLeaks and received a 35-year prison sentence, which was later commuted by Obama.

In 1901, William McKinley pardoned Alexander McKenzie. McKenzie was a powerful politician in North Dakota who used his influence to seize control of gold mines in Nome, Alaska. A court later ruled he had to return the mines and gold, but he refused and was eventually convicted for contempt of court.

Kate Richards O’Hare was a socialist activist who received a five-year sentence in 1919 for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 by making a speech opposing U.S. involvement in World War I. President Warren Harding pardoned her in 1920 after a national campaign for her release.

President Gerald Ford presumptively pardoned disgraced former President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate Scandal. Ford had been Nixon’s vice president until taking over when Nixon resigned.

President William H. Taft was swindled into pardoning imprisoned banker Charles W. Morse. Morse lobbied for clemency and then drank chemicals to feign chronic illness, convincing Taft to pardon him before he died in prison.

Reagan pardoned FBI special agent Mark Felt for illegally breaking into the homes of individuals thought to be connected to the Weather Underground, a radical left wing militant organization. Unbeknownst to Reagan, Felt was “Deep Throat,” the man responsible for leaking information about the Watergate scandal to the press.

President Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich on his last day in office. Rich was a businessman on the run for a list of financial crimes, including tax evasion, wire fraud, and racketeering. Shortly before the pardon, Rich’s ex-wife donated more than $1 million to the Democratic Party and Clinton’s foundation.

Hampton Hawes was a jazz pianist who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for possession of heroin. While in prison, he submitted an official request for a presidential pardon, and in 1963, JFK granted his request.

G. Gordon Liddy played a major role in organizing the operation that would lead to the Watergate scandal. Liddy was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping, but President Jimmy Carter commuted his 20-year sentence to eight years.

Stephen Douglas Puter and associates illegally transferred thousands of acres of land given to the Oregon and California railroad into their own control. President Theodore Roosevelt pardoned Puter who then turned into a witness against others involved in the scandal.

In the 1920s, Indiana Gov. Warren McCray ran into conflict with the Ku Klux Klan. During this time, he began to have financial troubles and got a questionable loan from the government. The Indiana attorney general, a KKK member, soon brought charges against him for mail fraud, and he was later convicted. President Herbert Hoover pardoned him in 1930.

Lothar Witzke was a German spy operating in the United States and Mexico during World War I. He was captured at the border between the countries and sentenced to death. However, the war ended before the execution was carried out and President Calvin Coolidge eventually pardoned him.

Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa was known for having connections to the mob and was convicted of wire fraud and bribery. Nixon commuted his 13-year sentence in 1971. Hoffa disappeared in 1975 and was eventually assumed murdered.

Frank Boykin was an influential congressman from Alabama. He was convicted of several crimes, including conspiracy and conflict of interest related to murky land deals in Maryland and Virginia. President Lyndon B. Johnson pardoned Boykin at the request of departing Attorney General Bobby Kennedy.

Frederick Krafft was one of the political activists who were convicted under the 1917 Espionage Act for supposed anti-war comments in 1918. He was sentenced to five years in federal penitentiary and fined $1,000. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson gave Krafft a full pardon.

In 1954, Master Sgt. Maurice Schick was convicted of murdering a nine-year-old girl at a military camp in Japan. He was sentenced to death, but President Dwight D. Eisenhower commuted his sentence to confinement with hard labor for the rest of his life.

Oscar Collazo was a Puerto Rican militant fighting for Puerto Rico’s independence. He attempted to assassinate President Harry S. Truman in 1950 but failed. He was sentenced to death for his actions, but Truman commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.

Roy Olmstead was one of the largest bootleggers in the Pacific Northwest during the Prohibition era. He was eventually convicted and served his full sentence of four years. However, in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt granted him a full presidential pardon, restoring his rights and invalidating the $100,000 in unpaid liquor taxes the IRS said he owed.