President Donald Trump began his second term with to give A “full, complete and unconditional pardon” for the approximately 1,500 people who participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol.
He also commuted the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who had been convicted or charged with treason for the violence.
The next day, Trump announced that he had pardoned Ross Ulbrichtthe founder of Silk Road, the dark Internet market, who was arrested for selling drugs on the platform.
So how do presidents compare the number of clemencies they have granted? Al Jazeera looks at some of the most controversial presidential pardons in modern history:
What is a presidential pardon?
Article 2 of the US Constitution gives a sitting president the power to pardon people for federal crimes, exempting them from further punishment or other legal consequences. However, this does not apply to prosecution.
Pardons are permanent once granted. The President cannot revoke or revoke a pardon granted by a former President.
Pardons can be granted before trial and after conviction. However, it may not apply to future crimes that someone did not commit.
There are various charitable activities, such as:
- Forgiveness – to give full pardon to the guilty person
- Exchange – reduce the sentence to a shorter one
- Return – postponement of punishment
- Forgiven – reduce the effect of a sentence without changing its nature
- Forgiveness – granting amnesty to a whole group of people
Which president has issued the most pardons?
The first presidential pardon was granted by George Washington in 1795 to the leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion, a violent protest against the tax.
In modern history, the 14 US presidents since 1945 have collectively issued more than 9,000 presidential pardons and commuted 6,500 times.
In these 80 years, Harry Truman, who was president from 1945 to 1953, issued the most pardons – 1,913 – followed by Trump, who has issued at least 1,644 in all his speeches so far. Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) granted the third pardon at 1,110.
Joe Biden gave the highest number of visits at 4,169, followed by Barack Obama at 1,715. Other presidents since 1945 have followed Obama and Biden while Lyndon Johnson passed the third most during his 1963-69 term when he approved 226 amendments.
Trump compared to Biden
During his four years (2021-2025), Biden issued at least 80 pardons and 4,169 commutations. In comparison, Trump issued 144 pardons and 94 pardons during his first term (2017-2021).
Although Trump's second term is only days away, he has already pardoned 1,500 people and more than a dozen trips.
Trump has pardoned people he had personal or political contacts with, including his supporters. In its first term, this included people involved in the special investigation of Robert Mueller, who examined Russian interference in the 2016 US election, the relationship between Trump's associates and Russian officials, and the obstruction of justice by Trump and his associates.
Convicted included Paul ManafortTrump campaign chairman; Michael Flynnhis former national security adviser; Roger Stonepolitical consultant; and George Papadopouloscampaign consultant.
Trump offered pardons and commutations to several of those involved. Papadopoulos was pardoned in 2018 and Flynn in November 2020. Stone's sentence was commuted in July 2020, and he was granted a full pardon in December 2020 along with Manafort.
In his final hours in 2021, Trump pardoned Steve Bannonwho was charged with fraud in connection with Trump's US-Mexico border wall campaign.
Trump has also offered condolences to singers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black. The former was convicted of carrying a gun on his private jet in December 2019 and received a pardon. Black was sentenced to four years in prison in 2019 for making false claims about carrying a firearm. His sentence was later commuted.
Most of Biden's pardons have been for nonviolent people, including nearly 2,500 on Friday — the most in a single day, except for Jimmy Carter. He has also pardoned several members of his family, saying that his actions were to protect them from a political investigation by Trump officials.
On his last day as President, Mr. Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a prominent figure in the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been widely criticized by political opponents, including Trump, for his handling of the outbreak. Biden said Fauci's pardon was also designed to protect him from a Trump-led prosecution.
Mr. Biden also commuted the sentence of American civil rights activist Leonard Peltier, who served nearly half a year in prison after being arrested in 1975 for killing two FBI agents.
Contradictory presidential pardons
Below are some of the most controversial acts of charity by US presidents over the past 50 years:
1974: Gerald Ford pardons Richard Nixon
On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon for any crimes he committed during his presidency, most notably the Watergate scandal.
Ford felt it was necessary to move the country through Watergate; however, the pardon is cited as the main reason why Ford lost the 1976 election. Many believe that the pardon continued the Watergate cover-up by preventing the impeachment of the former president, who resigned before being impeached.
1977: Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam War refugees
When Jimmy Carter was inaugurated in 1977, he pardoned those who evaded the Vietnam War on his first day in office, less than two years after the war ended.
With public opinion against the Vietnam War, many young men tried to avoid the military. The amnesty was criticized by veterans and politicians who served in Vietnam while others such as the American Veterans Committee praised the plan but said it would also serve refugees.
2017: Barack Obama reverses Chelsea Manning's sentence
Chelsea Manning, a military intelligence analyst, was convicted in 2010 of leaking government documents to WikiLeaks, which exposed American military and diplomatic activities around the world. Manning served 35 years in prison, but was commuted after seven years by Obama.
Pardoning relatives – Clinton, Trump and Biden
On his last day in office in 2001, Bill Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger Clinton Jr, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs after he was caught trying to sell them to an undercover cop in the 1980s. Clinton's pardon cleared Roger's record.
In 2020, Trump pardoned his father-in-law Charles Kushner, who served two prison terms for tax evasion.
In 2024, Biden pardoned his son Hunter despite previously saying he would not. Hunter was facing sentencing on two counts. In September, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion and in June was found guilty of drug possession and possession of a firearm. He became the first child of a president to ever be tried.
