How do Donald Trump’s pardons compare with other US presidents?
President Donald Trump began his second term by issuing “full, complete and unconditional” pardons to about 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol.
He also commuted the sentences of 14 Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members who were convicted or charged with seditious conspiracy related to the violence.
The next day, Trump announced he had pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, a dark web marketplace, who was jailed in connection with the sale of illegal drugs on the platform.
So how do presidents compare in the number of clemencies they have granted? Al Jazeera visualises presidential pardons in modern history, including some of the most controversial:
What is a presidential pardon?
Article II of the US Constitution grants a sitting president the power to forgive individuals for federal crimes, releasing them from further punishment or other legal consequences. However, it does not apply to impeachments.
Pardons are permanent once issued. A president cannot overturn or revoke a pardon that has been issued by a previous president.
A pardon may be issued before formal charges and after convictions. However, it cannot apply to future crimes that someone has not yet committed.
Which president has granted the most pardons?
The first presidential pardon was issued by George Washington in 1795 to leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion, a violent tax protest.
In more modern history, 14 US presidents since 1945 have together issued more than 9,000 presidential pardons and 6,500 commutations.
In this 80-year period, Harry Truman, who served as president from 1945 to 1953, issued the most pardons – 1,913 – followed by Trump, who has issued at least 1,644 in both his terms so far. Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) issued the third most pardons at 1,110.
Joe Biden issued the highest number of commutations at 4,169, followed by Barack Obama at 1,715. Other presidents since 1945 trail far behind Obama and Biden with Lyndon Johnson issuing the third most during his 1963-69 term when he approved 226 commutations.
Trump compared with Biden
In his four years in office (2021-2025), Biden granted at least 80 pardons and 4,169 commutations. In comparison, Trump granted 144 pardons and 94 commutations during his first term (2017-2021).
While Trump’s second term is just a few days old, he has already made a sweeping 1,500 pardons and more than a dozen commutations.
Trump has pardoned people who have had personal or political connections to him, including his supporters. In his first term, this included individuals implicated in the Robert Mueller special counsel investigation, which examined Russian interference in the 2016 US election, ties between Trump associates and Russian officials, and potential obstruction of justice by Trump and his associates.
Those convicted included Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman; Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser; Roger Stone, political adviser; and George Papadopoulos, campaign adviser.
Trump granted pardons and commutations to several of those implicated. Papadopoulos was pardoned in 2018 and Flynn in November 2020. Stone’s sentence was commuted in July 2020, and he granted a full pardon in December 2020 along with Manafort.
In his final hours in office in 2021, Trump pardoned Steve Bannon, who was charged with fraud related to a fundraising campaign for Trump’s US-Mexico border wall.
Trump has also granted clemency to rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black. The former was found guilty 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 statements about carrying a gun. His sentence was later commuted.
