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Executive clemency and presidential pardons

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Last updated: January 23, 2025

Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states, “The President ... shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” It describes one of the presidency’s most controversial powers: executive clemency, which gives the president the power to pardon individuals convicted of having committed a federal crime.

Below you will find a quantitative overview of presidential pardons and answers to questions such as the following: can a president pardon someone who has not yet been convicted of a crime; why did the framers grant this power to the presidency; and how frequently have presidents invoked this power?

HIGHLIGHTS

Between fiscal years 1902 and 2025, Franklin Roosevelt (D) issued, on average, more pardons than any other president.

As of January 17, 2025, the annual average number of pardons was 118, while the annual average number of commutations was 87.8.

Between fiscal years 1902 and 2025, Lyndon Johnson (D) was the only president to issue no pardons or commutations during his final fiscal year in office.

Recent presidential pardons and commutations

The list below highlights presidential pardons made recently. Know of one we missed? Email us at editor@ballotpedia.org and let us know.

January 22, 2025: President Donald Trump (R) issued pardons to Terrence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky.^[1]^[2]
January 21, 2025: President Donald Trump (R) issued a pardon to Ross Ulbricht.^[3]
January 20, 2025:
- President Donald Trump (R) issued around 1,500 pardons for individuals "convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021."^[4]
- President Joe Biden (D) pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, five members of his family, two Democratic politicians, and commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier.^[5]^[6]
January 17, 2025: President Joe Biden (D) issued 2,490 commutations to individuals convicted of non-violent drug offenses.^[7]
December 23, 2024: President Joe Biden (D) issued 37 pardons to individuals on federal death row, commuting their sentences to life sentences without the possibility for parole.^[8]

How frequently have presidents invoked this power?

Note: This section is updated once per month. It was most recently updated on January 17, 2025.

The tables below show official pardons and commutations from Theodore Roosevelt to Joe Biden. The first table shows an overview that can be used to compare these presidents’ use of executive clemency.

The tables below do not include instances of mass pardons such as in 1974 when President Ford pardoned individuals who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.^[9] All years are fiscal years, not calendar years. Statistics were taken from the U.S. Department of Justice website.

Overview: 1902 - 2025

Total pardons: 14,398
Annual average of pardons: 118.0
Total pardons from Democratic presidents: 8,458
Total pardons from Republican presidents: 5,940
Total commutations: 10,802
Annual average of commutations: 87.8
Total commutations from Democratic presidents: 8,264
Total commutations from Republican presidents: 2,538

1902 - 2025
President	Fiscal years	Total pardons	Average annual pardons	Total commutations	Average annual commutations
Joe Biden (D)	2021 - Present	65	16.25	4,161	1040.3
Donald Trump (R)	2017 - 2021	143	35.8	94	23.5
Barack Obama (D)	2009 - 2017	212	26.5	1,715	214.4
George W. Bush (R)	2001 - 2009	189	21	11	1.2
Bill Clinton (D)	1993 - 2001	396	44	61	6.8
George H.W. Bush (R)	1989 - 1993	74	14.8	3	0.6
Ronald Reagan (R)	1981 - 1989	393	43.7	13	1.4
Jimmy Carter (D)	1977 - 1981	534	106.8	29	5.8
Gerald Ford (R)	1975 - 1977	382	127.3	22	7.3
Richard Nixon (R)	1969 - 1974	863	143.8	60	10
Lyndon Johnson (D)	1964 - 1969	960	160	226	37.7
John F. Kennedy (D)	1961 - 1964	472	118	100	25
Dwight Eisenhower (R)	1953 - 1961	1100	122.2	47	5.2
Harry Truman (D)	1945 - 1953	1913	212.5	118	13.1
Franklin Roosevelt (D)	1934 - 1945	2819	234.9	488	40.7
Herbert Hoover (R)	1930 - 1933	672	168	405	101.2
Calvin Coolidge (R)	1924 - 1929	773	128.8	773	128.8
Warren Harding (R)	1922 - 1923	300	150	386	193
Woodrow Wilson (D)	1914 - 1921	1087	135.9	1366	170.75
William H. Taft (R)	1910 - 1913	383	95.75	361	90.25
Theodore Roosevelt (R)	1902 - 1909	668	83.5	363	45.4
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed January 17, 2025

Joe Biden (D)

Total pardons: 65
Annual average of pardons: 16.25
Total commutations: 4,161
Annual average of commutations: 1040.25

2021 - Present
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
2021	0	0
2022	3	79
2023	9	34
2024	13	19
2025	40	4,029
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed January 17, 2025

Donald Trump (R)

Total pardons: 143
Annual average of pardons: 35.8
Total commutations: 94
Annual average of commutations: 23.5

2017 - 2021
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
2017	1	0
2018	6	4
2019	8	2
2020	12	5
2021	116	83
Sources: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed February 16, 2021

Barack Obama (D)

Total pardons: 212
Annual average of pardons: 26.5
Total commutations: 1,715
Annual average of commutations: 214.4

2009 - 2017
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
2009	0	0
2010	0	0
2011	17	0
2012	5	1
2013	17	0
2014	13	9
2015	12	79
2016	6	583
2017	142	1,043
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed August 25, 2017

George W. Bush (R)

Total pardons: 189
Annual average of pardons: 21
Total commutations: 11
Annual average of commutations: 1.2

2001 - 2009
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
2001	0	0
2002	0	0
2003	7	0
2004	12	2
2005	39	0
2006	39	0
2007	16	2
2008	44	2
2009	32	5
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Bill Clinton (D)

Total pardons: 396
Annual average of pardons: 44
Total commutations: 61
Annual average of commutations: 6.8

1993 - 2001
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1993	0	0
1994	0	0
1995	53	3
1996	0	0
1997	0	0
1998	21	0
1999	34	12
2000	70	6
2001	218	40
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

George H.W. Bush (R)

Total pardons: 74
Annual average of pardons: 14.8
Total commutations: 3
Annual average of commutations: 0.6

1989 - 1993
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1989	9	1
1990	0	0
1991	29	0
1992	0	0
1993	36	2
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Ronald Reagan (R)

Total pardons: 393
Annual average of pardons: 43.7
Total commutations: 13
Annual average of commutations: 1.4

1981 - 1989
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1981	2	0
1982	83	3
1983	91	2
1984	37	5
1985	32	3
1986	55	0
1987	23	0
1988	38	0
1989	32	0
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Jimmy Carter (D)

Total pardons: 534
Annual average of pardons: 106.8
Total commutations: 29
Annual average of commutations: 5.8

1977 - 1981
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1977	0	1
1978	162	3
1979	143	10
1980	155	8
1981	74	7
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Gerald Ford (R)

Total pardons: 382
Annual average of pardons: 127.3
Total commutations: 22
Annual average of commutations: 7.3

1975 - 1977
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1975	147	5
1976	106	11
1977	129	6
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Richard Nixon (R)

Total pardons: 863
Annual average of pardons: 143.8
Total commutations: 60
Annual average of commutations: 10

1969 - 1974
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1969	0	0
1970	82	14
1971	157	16
1972	235	18
1973	202	4
1974	187	8
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Lyndon Johnson (D)

Total pardons: 960
Annual average of pardons: 160
Total commutations: 226
Annual average of commutations: 37.7

1964 - 1969
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1964	166	40
1965	195	80
1966	364	80
1967	222	23
1968	13	3
1969	0	0
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

John F. Kennedy (D)

Total pardons: 472
Annual average of pardons: 118
Total commutations: 100
Annual average of commutations: 25

1961 - 1964
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1961	24	9
1962	166	16
1963	133	43
1964	149	32
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Dwight Eisenhower (R)

Total pardons: 1,100
Annual average of pardons: 122.2
Total commutations: 47
Annual average of commutations: 5.2

1953 - 1961
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1953	6	1
1954	55	7
1955	59	4
1956	192	9
1957	232	4
1958	98	6
1959	117	2
1960	149	5
1961	202	9
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Harry S. Truman (D)

Total pardons: 1,913
Annual average of pardons: 212.5
Total commutations: 118
Annual average of commutations: 13.1

1945 - 1953
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1945	98	9
1946	279	28
1947	308	13
1948	178	15
1949	178	17
1950	400	14
1951	189	10
1952	192	6
1953	91	6
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Franklin Roosevelt (D)

Total pardons: 2,819
Annual average of pardons: 234.9
Total commutations: 488
Annual average of commutations: 40.7

1934 - 1945
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1934	114	53
1935	211	36
1936	154	183
1937	192	37
1938	219	28
1939	172	32
1940	242	31
1941	178	15
1942	305	21
1943	332	17
1944	424	10
1945	276	25
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Herbert Hoover (R)

Total pardons: 672
Annual average of pardons: 168
Total commutations: 405
Annual average of commutations: 101.2

1930 - 1933
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1930	121	85
1931	163	114
1932	189	137
1933	199	69
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Calvin Coolidge (R)

Total pardons: 773
Annual average of pardons: 128.8
Total commutations: 773
Annual average of commutations: 128.8

1924 - 1929
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1924	105	120
1925	182	96
1926	127	96
1927	89	110
1928	110	172
1929	160	179
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Warren Harding (R)

Total pardons: 300
Annual average of pardons: 150
Total commutations: 386
Annual average of commutations: 193

1922 - 1923
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1922	162	187
1923	138	199
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Woodrow Wilson (D)

Total pardons: 1,087
Annual average of pardons: 135.9
Total commutations: 1,366
Annual average of commutations: 170.75

1914 - 1921
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1914	104	116
1915	78	86
1916	116	107
1917	182	96
1918	119	94
1919	116	262
1920	198	341
1921	174	264
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

William H. Taft (R)

Total pardons: 383
Annual average of pardons: 95.75
Total commutations: 361
Annual average of commutations: 90.25

1910 - 1913
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1910	111	119
1911	82	64
1912	108	78
1913	82	100
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Theodore Roosevelt (R)

Total pardons: 668
Annual average of pardons: 83.5
Total commutations: 363
Annual average of commutations: 45.4

1902 - 1909
Fiscal year	Pardons	Commutations
1902	92	36
1903	70	57
1904	87	62
1905	109	52
1906	96	52
1907	71	30
1908	53	22
1909	90	52
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Statistics," accessed November 15, 2016

Presidential pardons and commutations during final months of presidency

Historically, presidents often issue a significant number of pardons and commutations during their final months in office. The section below tracks the number of pardons and commutations issued by each president since 1974 during the time period from election day in their final term to the inauguration of their successor. This section was last updated on January 17, 2025.

Presidential pardons and commutations during final months of presidency, 1974 - 2025
President	November	December	January	Total number issued during final months	Percent of total pardons/commutations issued
Joe Biden (D)	3	1,576	2,490	4,069	96%
Donald Trump (R) (first term)	1	49	144	194	82%
Barack Obama (D)	79	231	601	911	47%
George W. Bush (R)	16	1	20	37	19%
Bill Clinton (D)	11	63	177	251	55%
George H.W. Bush (R)	9	33	14	56	73%
Ronald Reagan (R)	0	2	30	32	8%
Jimmy Carter (D)	0	79	2	81	14%
Gerald Ford (R)	0	96	39	135	33%
Source: Department of Justice, "Clemency Recipients," accessed December 23, 2024

Presidential pardons 101

The U.S. Constitution, in Article II, Section 2, grants the president the power of executive clemency. Executive clemency includes the power to pardon, in which the president overturns a federal conviction and restores “an individual to the state of innocence that existed before the conviction.”^[10] Executive clemency also includes the power of commutation, which allows a president to shorten or reduce a federal prison sentence.

Other powers of executive clemency include postponing a sentence or punishment (a reprieve) and remitting fines.^[11]

The Constitution imposes two major limits on the power of executive clemency. The first is that clemency is limited to federal offenses. The president cannot pardon individuals for civil or state offenses. The second is that the president may not use this power to intervene in impeachment proceedings.

A special office in the Department of Justice is dedicated to assisting the president in matters related to executive clemency. It is called the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Requests for pardons, commutations, and remissions begin with the Office of the Pardon Attorney.

Why do presidents issue pardons?

Executive clemency scholar P.S. Ruckman, Jr. identified three main formal reasons for issuing a pardon:

“

The first category of explanations are 'legal' or 'technical' in nature. Generally such explanations relate to (1) the potential, probable or certain innocence of the petitioner (2) mitigating factors or (3) concern for proportionate punishment. [W.H.] Humbert's [1941] study, for example, found the following factors cited in clemency statements: (1) irregularities at trial, insufficient evidence, conflicting testimony, mistaken identity, grave doubt as to the justice of convictions, disclosure of new evidence, confessions of true offenders (2) absence of premeditation, the heat of passion or extreme provocation, insanity, intoxication (3) technical guilt, pettiness of the crime, excessive punishment, sufficient punishment, and a desire to equalize punishment for all participants in the crime.

A second category of formal, public clemency explanations concerns humanitarian compassion or mercy. Clemency rationales in this category are criticized more frequently, but the appeals to sympathy and emotion in this category of explanations may serve as a powerful shield to the executive. Many pardons, for example, have been issued to federal prisoners near death (Adler 1989; Humbert 1941). [...] In some instances, pardons have been issued to those whose health threatened that of other inmates (Humbert 1941). A well-argued statement emphasizing the extreme age, ignorance, or questionable degree of sanity in the recipient of clemency may sway sympathy as well as any 'death bed' scenario.

A third and final category of formal, public clemency explanations concerns judgments on reform, or rehabilitation. Explanations in this category may well provide the greatest potential for controversy. As Moore (1993) notes, presidents run certain risks when they attempt to assess the reality and degree of a prisoner's `transformation.' [...] In the past, presidents have been swayed by the religious conversion of prisoners, charity work (Clark 1984), and promises "never to violate the law again" (Humbert 1941, 124).^[12]^[13]

”

Policy analyst James Pfiffner, writing for the Heritage Foundation, similarly described the purposes of pardon power as including "temper[ing] justice with mercy in appropriate cases," "do[ing] justice if new or mitigating evidence comes to bear on a person who may have been wrongfully convicted," and added:

“

Another purpose of the pardon power focuses not on obtaining justice for the person pardoned, but rather on the public policy purposes of the government. For instance, James Wilson argued during the convention that 'pardon before conviction might be necessary, in order to obtain the testimony of accomplices.' The public policy purposes of the pardon were echoed by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Biddle v. Perovich (1927): 'A pardon in our days is not a private act of grace from an individual happening to possess power. It is a part of the constitutional scheme.'

Pardons have also been used for the broader public policy purpose of ensuring peace and tranquility in the case of uprisings and to bring peace after internal conflicts. Its use might be needed in such cases. As Alexander Hamilton argued in The Federalist No. 74, 'in seasons of insurrection or rebellion there are often critical moments when a well-timed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquility of the commonwealth; and which, if suffered to pass unimproved, it may never be possible afterwards to recall.'

Presidents have sought to use the pardon power to overcome or mitigate the effects of major crises that afflicted the polity. President George Washington granted an amnesty to those who participated in the Whiskey Rebellion; Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson issued amnesties to those involved with the Confederates during the Civil War; and Presidents Gerald R. Ford and James Earl Carter granted amnesties to Vietnam-era draft evaders.^[14]^[13]

”

Can a president pardon someone who has not been charged?

Yes. Presidents have issued preemptive pardons for individuals who may be suspected of wrongdoing but have yet to be charged or convicted. In fact, Gerald Ford’s pardoning of Richard Nixon was a preemptive pardon.^[15] Nixon had yet to be formally charged with any wrongdoing.

The Supreme Court confirmed the president's authority to grant preemptive pardons in a ruling in 1866 (Ex Parte Garland). The Court ruled that executive clemency “extends to every offence known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment.”

Why did the framers include the power of executive clemency in the Constitution?

A January 2020 Congressional Research Service report on presidential pardons said the power of presidential pardons originated in English law and was a subject of debate among the framers:

“

The concept of governmental relief from the punishment that would otherwise apply to a criminal act has deep historical roots, with some scholars tracing it as far back as ancient Greece and Rome. An English form of pardon power vested in the king, the 'prerogative of mercy,' first appeared during the reign of King Ine of Wessex (688-725 A.D.). Over time, perceived abuses 'such as royal sales of pardons or use of pardons as bribery to join the military' prompted Parliament to impose limitations on the pardon power. The king’s power to pardon nevertheless endured through the American colonial period and applied in the colonies themselves through delegation to colonial authorities.

Following the American Revolution, the English legal tradition of a pardon power held by the executive directly influenced the pardon provision included in the U.S. Constitution. At the Constitutional Convention, the two major plans offered—the Virginia and New Jersey plans—did not address pardons. However, in a 'sketch' of suggested amendments to the Virginia plan, Alexander Hamilton included a pardon power vested in an 'Executive authority of the United States' that extended to 'all offences except Treason,' with a pardon for treason requiring Senate approval. It appears that the rationale for the treason limitation was, at least in part, that the head of the executive branch should not be able to absolve himself and possible conspirators of a crime threatening 'the immediate being of the society.' Hamilton’s proposal was included in a subsequent draft of the Constitution, though the requirement of Senate approval for a pardon of treason was replaced with an exception for impeachment, apparently with the thought that exempting impeachment was sufficient to protect against abuse.

Debate at the Convention over the pardon power was limited, primarily centering on questions of (1) how broad the power should be (i.e., what restrictions or exceptions to the power should exist), and (2) whether the legislature should have a role in the power’s exercise. Ultimately, proposals to impose additional limits on pardons beyond an exception for impeachment—such as by calling for Senate approval of pardons or requiring conviction prior to pardon—were rejected, resulting in the expansive power in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton made the case for the breadth of this executive-held power in The Federalist, arguing that it 'should be as little as possible fettered or embarrassed' to ensure 'easy access to exceptions in favour of unfortunate guilt.' And on this view, 'a single man of prudence and good sense,' that is, the President, would be 'better fitted, in delicate conjunctures, to balance the motives which may plead for and against the remission of the punishment, than any numerous body whatever.' In accordance with these principles, the text of the Constitution, as ratified, places few limits on the President’s ability to grant pardons.^[16]^[13]

”

Footnotes

↑ White House, "Executive Grant of Clemency for Andrew Zabavsky," January 22, 2025
↑ White House, "Executive Grant of Clemency for TERENCE SUTTON," January 22, 2025
↑ CNBC, "Trump pardons Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht," January 21, 2025
↑ White House, "GRANTING PARDONS AND COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES RELATING TO THE EVENTS AT OR NEAR THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6, 2021," January 20, 2025
↑ The New York Times, "Live Updates: Trump, Newly Inaugurated, Details Planned Executive Action," January 20, 2025
↑ Associated Press, "Biden pardons Fauci, Milley and the Jan. 6 committee in effort to guard against ‘revenge’ by Trump," January 20, 2025
↑ White House, "Statement from President Joe Biden on Additional Clemency Actions," January 17, 2025
↑ White House, "Statement from President Joe Biden on Federal Death Row Commutations," December 23, 2024
↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named draft
↑ Ginsberg, B. (2016). Presidential Government, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
↑ Department of Justice, "About the Office of the Pardon Attorney," accessed November 11, 2016
↑ Presidential Studies Quarterly, "Executive Clemency in the United States: Origins, Development, and Analysis (1900-1993)," 1997
↑ ^13.0 ^13.1 ^13.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ The Heritage Foundation, "The President's Broad Power to Pardon and Commute," July 9, 2007
↑ Constitution Center, "Edward Snowden, the Constitution and presidential pardons," September 14, 2016
↑ Congressional Research Service, "Presidential Pardons: Overview and Selected Legal Issues," January 14, 2020

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