Timeline: A History of Pardons

by Robin Respaut, Al Shaw and Krista Kjellman Schmidt
December 4, 2011, 4:00 am
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<h1>Timeline: A History of Pardons</h1>

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<div>
<p>The chart below shows pardons granted per year from 1900-2011. Click on a bar to see the number of pardons granted and by which president. The timeline below the chart shows notable pardons. | <strong>Story:</strong><a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/shades-of-mercy-presidential-forgiveness-heavily-favors-whites">Shades of Mercy: Presidential Forgiveness Heavily Favors Whites »</a></p>
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<p>  10 pardons
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<div class="pardons_label_year"></div>
<div class="pardons_label_pardons"><span class="pardons_label_pardon_ct"></span> pardons<br />
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 var YEAR_PARDONS = [{"pardons":129,"data_president":"William McKinley","label_president":"William McKinley","year":"1900"},{"pardons":162,"data_president":"William McKinley","label_president":"William McKinley","year":"1901"},{"pardons":92,"data_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","label_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","year":"1902"},{"pardons":70,"data_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","label_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","year":"1903"},{"pardons":87,"data_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","label_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","year":"1904"},{"pardons":109,"data_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","label_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","year":"1905"},{"pardons":96,"data_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","label_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","year":"1906"},{"pardons":71,"data_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","label_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","year":"1907"},{"pardons":53,"data_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","label_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","year":"1908"},{"pardons":90,"data_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","label_president":"Theodore Roosevelt","year":"1909"},{"pardons":111,"data_president":"William H. Taft","label_president":"William H. Taft","year":"1910"},{"pardons":82,"data_president":"William H. Taft","label_president":"William H. Taft","year":"1911"},{"pardons":108,"data_president":"William H. Taft","label_president":"William H. Taft","year":"1912"},{"pardons":82,"data_president":"William H. Taft","label_president":"William H. Taft","year":"1913"},{"pardons":104,"data_president":"Woodrow Wilson","label_president":"Woodrow Wilson","year":"1914"},{"pardons":78,"data_president":"Woodrow Wilson","label_president":"Woodrow Wilson","year":"1915"},{"pardons":116,"data_president":"Woodrow Wilson","label_president":"Woodrow Wilson","year":"1916"},{"pardons":182,"data_president":"Woodrow Wilson","label_president":"Woodrow Wilson","year":"1917"},{"pardons":119,"data_president":"Woodrow Wilson","label_president":"Woodrow Wilson","year":"1918"},{"pardons":116,"data_president":"Woodrow Wilson","label_president":"Woodrow Wilson","year":"1919"},{"pardons":198,"data_president":"Woodrow Wilson","label_president":"Woodrow Wilson","year":"1920"},{"pardons":174,"data_president":"Woodrow Wilson","label_president":"Woodrow Wilson","year":"1921"},{"pardons":162,"data_president":"Warren Harding","label_president":"Warren Harding","year":"1922"},{"pardons":138,"data_president":"Warren Harding","label_president":"Warren Harding","year":"1923"},{"pardons":105,"data_president":"Calvin Coolidge","label_president":"Calvin Coolidge","year":"1924"},{"pardons":182,"data_president":"Calvin Coolidge","label_president":"Calvin Coolidge","year":"1925"},{"pardons":127,"data_president":"Calvin Coolidge","label_president":"Calvin Coolidge","year":"1926"},{"pardons":89,"data_president":"Calvin Coolidge","label_president":"Calvin Coolidge","year":"1927"},{"pardons":110,"data_president":"Calvin Coolidge","label_president":"Calvin Coolidge","year":"1928"},{"pardons":160,"data_president":"Calvin Coolidge","label_president":"Calvin Coolidge","year":"1929"},{"pardons":121,"data_president":"Herbert Hoover","label_president":"Herbert Hoover","year":"1930"},{"pardons":163,"data_president":"Herbert Hoover","label_president":"Herbert Hoover","year":"1931"},{"pardons":189,"data_president":"Herbert Hoover","label_president":"Herbert Hoover","year":"1932"},{"pardons":199,"data_president":"Herbert Hoover","label_president":"Herbert Hoover","year":"1933"},{"pardons":114,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1934"},{"pardons":211,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1935"},{"pardons":154,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1936"},{"pardons":192,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1937"},{"pardons":219,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1938"},{"pardons":172,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1939"},{"pardons":242,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1940"},{"pardons":178,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1941"},{"pardons":305,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1942"},{"pardons":332,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1943"},{"pardons":424,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt","year":"1944"},{"pardons":374,"data_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt ","label_president":"Franklin D. Roosevelt (276) | Harry S. Truman (98)","year":"1945"},{"pardons":279,"data_president":"Harry S. Truman","label_president":"Harry S. Truman","year":"1946"},{"pardons":308,"data_president":"Harry S. Truman","label_president":"Harry S. Truman","year":"1947"},{"pardons":178,"data_president":"Harry S. Truman","label_president":"Harry S. Truman","year":"1948"},{"pardons":178,"data_president":"Harry S. Truman","label_president":"Harry S. Truman","year":"1949"},{"pardons":400,"data_president":"Harry S. Truman","label_president":"Harry S. Truman","year":"1950"},{"pardons":189,"data_president":"Harry S. Truman","label_president":"Harry S. Truman","year":"1951"},{"pardons":192,"data_president":"Harry S. Truman","label_president":"Harry S. Truman","year":"1952"},{"pardons":97,"data_president":"Harry S. Truman ","label_president":"Harry S. Truman (91) | Dwight D. Eisenhower (6)","year":"1953"},{"pardons":55,"data_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","label_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","year":"1954"},{"pardons":59,"data_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","label_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","year":"1955"},{"pardons":192,"data_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","label_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","year":"1956"},{"pardons":232,"data_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","label_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","year":"1957"},{"pardons":98,"data_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","label_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","year":"1958"},{"pardons":117,"data_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","label_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","year":"1959"},{"pardons":149,"data_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","label_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","year":"1960"},{"pardons":226,"data_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower","label_president":"Dwight D. Eisenhower (202) | John F. Kennedy (24)","year":"1961"},{"pardons":166,"data_president":"John F. Kennedy","label_president":"John F. Kennedy","year":"1962"},{"pardons":133,"data_president":"John F. Kennedy","label_president":"John F. Kennedy","year":"1963"},{"pardons":315,"data_president":"John F. Kennedy","label_president":"John F. Kennedy (149) | Lyndon B. Johnson(166)","year":"1964"},{"pardons":195,"data_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","label_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","year":"1965"},{"pardons":364,"data_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","label_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","year":"1966"},{"pardons":222,"data_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","label_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","year":"1967"},{"pardons":13,"data_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","label_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","year":"1968"},{"pardons":0,"data_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson ","label_president":"Lyndon B. Johnson (0) | Richard M. Nixon (0)","year":"1969"},{"pardons":82,"data_president":"Richard M. Nixon","label_president":"Richard M. Nixon","year":"1970"},{"pardons":157,"data_president":"Richard M. Nixon","label_president":"Richard M. Nixon","year":"1971"},{"pardons":235,"data_president":"Richard M. Nixon","label_president":"Richard M. Nixon","year":"1972"},{"pardons":202,"data_president":"Richard M. Nixon","label_president":"Richard M. Nixon","year":"1973"},{"pardons":187,"data_president":"Richard M. Nixon","label_president":"Richard M. Nixon","year":"1974"},{"pardons":147,"data_president":"Richard M. Nixon ","label_president":"Richard M. Nixon (0) | Gerald R. Ford (147)","year":"1975"},{"pardons":106,"data_president":"Gerald R. Ford ","label_president":"Gerald R. Ford ","year":"1976"},{"pardons":129,"data_president":"Gerald R. Ford","label_president":"Gerald R. Ford (129) | Jimmy Carter (0)","year":"1977"},{"pardons":162,"data_president":"Jimmy Carter","label_president":"Jimmy Carter","year":"1978"},{"pardons":143,"data_president":"Jimmy Carter","label_president":"Jimmy Carter","year":"1979"},{"pardons":155,"data_president":"Jimmy Carter","label_president":"Jimmy Carter","year":"1980"},{"pardons":76,"data_president":"Jimmy Carter ","label_president":"Jimmy Carter (74) | Ronald Reagan (2)","year":"1981"},{"pardons":83,"data_president":"Ronald Reagan ","label_president":"Ronald Reagan ","year":"1982"},{"pardons":91,"data_president":"Ronald Reagan ","label_president":"Ronald Reagan ","year":"1983"},{"pardons":37,"data_president":"Ronald Reagan ","label_president":"Ronald Reagan ","year":"1984"},{"pardons":32,"data_president":"Ronald Reagan ","label_president":"Ronald Reagan ","year":"1985"},{"pardons":55,"data_president":"Ronald Reagan ","label_president":"Ronald Reagan ","year":"1986"},{"pardons":23,"data_president":"Ronald Reagan ","label_president":"Ronald Reagan ","year":"1987"},{"pardons":38,"data_president":"Ronald Reagan ","label_president":"Ronald Reagan ","year":"1988"},{"pardons":41,"data_president":"Ronald Reagan ","label_president":"Ronald Reagan (32) | George H.W. Bush (9)","year":"1989"},{"pardons":0,"data_president":"George H.W. Bush","label_president":"George H.W. Bush","year":"1990"},{"pardons":29,"data_president":"George H.W. Bush","label_president":"George H.W. Bush","year":"1991"},{"pardons":0,"data_president":"George H.W. Bush","label_president":"George H.W. Bush","year":"1992"},{"pardons":36,"data_president":"George H.W. Bush ","label_president":"George H.W. Bush (36) | William J. Clinton (0)","year":"1993"},{"pardons":0,"data_president":"William J. Clinton ","label_president":"William J. Clinton ","year":"1994"},{"pardons":53,"data_president":"William J. Clinton ","label_president":"William J. Clinton ","year":"1995"},{"pardons":0,"data_president":"William J. Clinton ","label_president":"William J. Clinton ","year":"1996"},{"pardons":0,"data_president":"William J. Clinton ","label_president":"William J. Clinton ","year":"1997"},{"pardons":21,"data_president":"William J. Clinton ","label_president":"William J. Clinton ","year":"1998"},{"pardons":34,"data_president":"William J. Clinton ","label_president":"William J. Clinton ","year":"1999"},{"pardons":70,"data_president":"William J. Clinton ","label_president":"William J. Clinton ","year":"2000"},{"pardons":218,"data_president":"William J. Clinton","label_president":"William J. Clinton (218) | George W. Bush (0)","year":"2001"},{"pardons":0,"data_president":"George W. Bush ","label_president":"George W. Bush ","year":"2002"},{"pardons":7,"data_president":"George W. Bush ","label_president":"George W. Bush ","year":"2003"},{"pardons":12,"data_president":"George W. Bush ","label_president":"George W. Bush ","year":"2004"},{"pardons":39,"data_president":"George W. Bush ","label_president":"George W. Bush ","year":"2005"},{"pardons":39,"data_president":"George W. Bush ","label_president":"George W. Bush ","year":"2006"},{"pardons":16,"data_president":"George W. Bush ","label_president":"George W. Bush ","year":"2007"},{"pardons":44,"data_president":"George W. Bush ","label_president":"George W. Bush ","year":"2008"},{"pardons":32,"data_president":"George W. Bush ","label_president":"George W. Bush (32) | Barack Obama (0)","year":"2009"},{"pardons":0,"data_president":"Barack Obama ","label_president":"Barack Obama ","year":"2010"},{"pardons":17,"data_president":"Barack Obama ","label_president":"Barack Obama ","year":"2011"},{"pardons":5,"data_president":"Barack Obama ","label_president":"Barack Obama ","year":"2012"}];
</p>
<div>Timeline: Notable Pardons</div>
<div></div>
<p>
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<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Clinton's Final Round of Pardons</h2>
<p>"},{"date":"Jan. 1, 1858","link":"","description":"James Buchanan pardons Brigham Young and other Mormons who had harassed federal troops during a dispute, known as the Mormon Rebellion, over governance of the Utah territory.","display_date":"1858","series":"","timestamp":-3534346800000,"html":""},{"date":"Dec. 26, 1986","link":"","description":"Reagan pardons Junior Johnson, a legendary stock-car racer and team owner who had spent 11 months in prison for moonshining. Johnson called the pardon \"one of the greatest things of my life.\"","display_date":"Dec. 26, 1986","series":"","timestamp":535957200000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Junior Johnson </h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/ap_1986_junior_johnson_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="In this June 3, 1964, file photo, Junior Johnson peers from his car after winning the pole position for the Dixie 400 stock car race at Atlanta International Raceway in Atlanta. (AP Photo/File)">"},{"date":"Jan. 1, 1865","link":"","description":"Abraham Lincoln pardons Arthur O'Bryan, who had been convicted of attempting sex with an animal, because of his otherwise reputable character and because he had been drunk at the time.","display_date":"1865","series":"","timestamp":-3313422000000,"html":""},{"date":"Jan. 21, 1977","link":"","description":"On his first day in office, Jimmy Carter pardons thousands who had avoided the Vietnam War by fleeing the country or failing to register for the draft.","display_date":"Jan. 21, 1977","series":"","timestamp":222670800000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Carter Pardons Vietnam Draft Dodgers</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/ap_1977_draft_dodgers_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Police move in to disperse a group of anti-Vietnam War protesters near the Supreme Court Building in Washington on June 17, 1968, after a pacifist group of 11 women staged a burning of draft cards. (AP Photo)">"},{"date":"June 30, 1865","link":"","description":"After the Civil War, Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, issues pardons \"to all persons who have, directly or indirectly, participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted.\" The exceptions included wealthy Southerners and high-ranking Confederate officials, who could apply for personal pardons, of which Johnson issued more than 13,000.","display_date":"1865","series":"","timestamp":-3297870000000,"html":""},{"date":"Dec. 24, 1992","link":"","description":"After losing his re-election bid, George H.W. Bush pardons six former Reagan administration officials, including former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, center, who had been scheduled to go on trial in two weeks for their roles in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal that unfolded while Bush was Reagan's vice president. Special prosecutor Lawrence E. Walsh was quoted as saying, \"The Iran-Contra coverup ... has now been completed.\"","display_date":"Dec. 24, 1992","series":"","timestamp":725173200000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Caspar Weinberger</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/gt_1992_weinberger_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, center, is surrounded by news photographers as he leaves the U.S. District Court on June 19, 1992, after pleading innocent to the charge of making false statements relating to the Iran-Contra affair. (Robert Giroux/AFP/Getty Images)">"},{"date":"Jan. 1, 1869","link":"","description":"\rJohnson pardons Dr. Samuel Mudd, Edmund Spangler and Samuel Arnold, who had received life sentences for conspiring to assassinate Lincoln.","display_date":"1869","series":"","timestamp":-3187191600000,"html":""},{"date":"Sept. 8, 1974","link":"","description":"One month after Nixon's historic resignation, successor Gerald Ford pardons Nixon for any crimes related to the Watergate scandal.","display_date":"Sept. 8, 1974","series":"","timestamp":147844800000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Gerald Ford Pardons Richard Nixon</h2>
<p>"},{"date":"Jan. 1, 1908","link":"","description":" William Howard Taft pardons millionaire businessman Charles W. Morse, center, who claimed illness while serving a prison sentence for violating federal banking laws. After his release, Morse \"recovered,\" and Taft later expressed regret for the pardon. Morse later faced war profiteering charges in connection with his shipbuilding business.","display_date":"1908","series":"","timestamp":-1956596400000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Charles W. Morse</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/loc_1908_morse_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Charles W. Morse, center, walks alongside unknown associates in this photos published by the Bain News Service between 1910 and 1915. (Library of Congress)">"},{"date":"Jan. 19, 1981","link":"","description":"On his last day in office, Carter pardons pardons singer Peter Yarrow, part of the group Peter, Paul and Mary, who had served three months after his conviction for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. ","display_date":"Jan. 19, 1981","series":"","timestamp":348728400000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Peter Yarrow</h2>
<p>"},{"date":"Dec. 19, 1912","link":"","description":"Taft pardons Capt. William H. Van Schaick, who had served more than three years in Sing Sing for criminal negligence after his passenger steamship, the General Slocum, burned on New York's East River, killing 1,035.","display_date":"Dec. 19, 1912","series":"","timestamp":-1799866800000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">General Slocum Disaster</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/general_slocum_burning_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Firefighters work to extinguish the fire on the General Slocum on June 15, 1904. More than 1,000 people died. (Harper's)">"},{"date":"Aug. 15, 1989","link":"","description":"George H.W. Bush pardons Armand Hammer, the head of Occidental Petroleum, who had been fined and put on probation after pleading guilty to making illegal campaign contributions to Nixon.","display_date":"Aug. 15, 1989","series":"","timestamp":619156800000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Armand Hammer</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/ap_1989_hammer_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="File photo of the Chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corp., Dr. Armand Hammer in New York, USA, in 1966. (AP Photo)">"},{"date":"Jan. 25, 1915","link":"http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=236&page=79","description":"Woodrow Wilson issues George Burdick, city editor at the New York Tribune, a full pardon so he could testify in an investigation into leaked secrets. Burdick refused to reveal sources or accept Wilson's pardon. His conviction for contempt was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, which said a pardon \"carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it.\"","display_date":"Jan. 25, 1915","series":"","timestamp":-1733598000000,"html":""},{"date":"March 25, 1998","link":"http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-1769.ZO.html","description":"The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Woodward that neither Congress nor the courts may interfere with presidential pardons.","display_date":"March 25, 1998","series":"","timestamp":890802000000,"html":""},{"date":"Feb. 12, 1921","link":"","description":"Warren G. Harding commutes the sentence of labor leader Eugene V. Debs, who had been convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 and sentenced to 10 years after giving a speech in which he denounced American participation in World War I.","display_date":"Feb. 12, 1921","series":"","timestamp":-1542654000000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Eugene V. Debs</h2>
<p>"},{"date":"Dec. 21, 1972","link":"","description":"Nixon pardons Angelo DeCarlo, a New York mobster, after 18 months in prison on charges of extortion and conspiracy to commit murder. According to FBI files, DeCarlo's friendship with Frank Sinatra, right, and Vice President Spiro Agnew, left, helped the mobster land the pardon. Sinatra contributed heavily to Nixon's election campaign.","display_date":"Dec. 21, 1972","series":"","timestamp":93762000000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">New York Mobster Gets a Little Help From His Friends</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/ap_1972_agnew_sinatra_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Vice President Spiro Agnew, left, and entertainer Frank Sinatra take off for a round of golf, on Oct. 8, 1972, at Palm Springs, Calif., where the vice president and his family are spending the weekend at Sinatra's estate. (AP Photo)">"},{"date":"Nov. 22, 1923","link":"http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19231129&id=-6NRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NQ8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3736,1770183","description":"Calvin Coolidge pardons Lothar Witzke, the first person convicted as a German spy in the U.S. during World War I. Witzke, whose death sentence had previously been commuted to life imprisonment, was deported to Germany.","display_date":"Nov. 22, 1923","series":"","timestamp":-1455130800000,"html":""},{"date":"Jan. 19, 1977","link":"","description":"Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American woman known as \"Tokyo Rose,\" on his last day in office. She had been convicted of treason for her anti-American broadcasts to World War II troops, and spent six years in prison before being paroled in 1956. It was later discovered that two witnesses had lied under oath.","display_date":"Jan. 19, 1977","series":"","timestamp":222498000000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">'Tokyo Rose'</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/doj_1977_tokyo_rose_212x260.jpg" width="212" height="260" alt="Mugshot of Iva Toguri D'Aquino taken at Sugamo Prison on March 7, 1946(National Archives)">"},{"date":"May 31, 1927","link":"","description":"The Supreme Court, in Biddle v. Perovich, says pardons are more than an \"act of grace\" Ñ they serve the \"public welfare\" by correcting unfair judgments.","display_date":"May 31, 1927","series":"","timestamp":-1344024000000,"html":""},{"date":"April 12, 1977","link":"http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7345#axzz1f1Q30CJ0","description":"Carter commutes the 20-year sentence of Watergate co-conspirator G. Gordon Liddy, who had served 4 1/2 years.","display_date":"April 12, 1977","series":"","timestamp":229669200000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Carter Commutes Prison Sentence of Watergate Co-Conspirator</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/ap_1977_liddy_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Watergate mastermind G. Gordon Liddy talks with reporters during his interview in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 9, 1977 since leaving prison. (AP Photo)">"},{"date":"Nov. 18, 1927","link":"http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/biographies/a/garvey.htm","description":"Coolidge commutes the sentence of Marcus Garvey, the African-American leader who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association. The group's involvement in a steamship line had led to mail-fraud charges for which Garvey was convicted and imprisoned for two years. After his release, he was deported. President Obama later rejected a bid for a posthumous pardon for Garvey.","display_date":"Nov. 18, 1927","series":"","timestamp":-1329246000000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Marcus Garvey</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/ap_1927_garvey_212x260.jpg" width="212" height="260" alt="Black nationalist Marcus Garvey is shown in a military uniform as the 'Provisional President of Africa' during a parade up Lenox Avenue in Harlem, New York City, in August 1922. (AP Photo)">"},{"date":"March 26, 1981","link":"","description":"Ronald Reagan pardons former FBI officials Mark Felt, left, and Edward Miller, right, who had been found guilty of authorizing agents to break into anti-war protesters' homes and offices without warrants. In 2005, Felt revealed that he was \"Deep Throat,\" the secret source for Watergate stories by The Washington Post that led to Nixon's resignation. ","display_date":"March 26, 1981","series":"","timestamp":354430800000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Mark Felt and Edward Miller </h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/ap_1981_felt_miller_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Former FBI officials, Mark Felt, left, and Edward Miller, appear at a news conference on April 15, 1981, after learning that President Ronald Reagan had pardoned them from their conviction of unauthorized break-ins during the Nixon administration's search for opponents during the Vietnam War. (Bob Daugherty/AP Photo)">"},{"date":"Dec. 24, 1930","link":"","description":"Herbert Hoover pardons former Indiana Gov. Warren T. McCray, who had been paroled in 1927 after three years in prison for mail fraud. Hoover had been informed of the Ku Klux Klan's possible role in McCray's prosecution.","display_date":"Dec. 24, 1930","series":"","timestamp":-1231441200000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Warren T. McCray</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/in_1930_mccray_212x260.jpg" width="212" height="260" alt="A 1927 oil painting of Indiana Gov. Warren T. McCray. (Photo courtesy of Indiana)">"},{"date":"Jan. 18, 1989","link":"","description":"Reagan pardons New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who had pleaded guilty in 1974 to making illegal campaign contributions to Nixon. ","display_date":"Jan. 18, 1989","series":"","timestamp":601102800000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">George Steinbrenner</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/gt_1989_steinbrenner_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner talks to the press during the 1989 season in New York, N.Y. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)">"},{"date":"April 18, 1938","link":"","description":"President Franklin D. Roosevelt pardoned Dr. Francis E. Townsend, center, whose advocacy of old-age pensions had influenced Roosevelt and Congress to establish Social Security, on April 18, 1938. Townsend had been found guilty of contempt after walking out of a House of Representatives committee meeting, and FDR commuted his 30-day sentence.","display_date":"April 18, 1938","series":"","timestamp":-1000580400000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Dr. Francis E. Townsend</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/loc_1938_townsend_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Newspapermen and photographers surround Dr. Francis E. Townsend as he displays his pardon from a 30-day jail sentence from President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 18, 1938. (Library of Congress)">"},{"date":"July 18, 1990","link":"","description":"After being lobbied by his son Jeb, George H.W. Bush pardons Orlando Bosch, an anti-Castro activist suspected in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 on board. Bosch, who is the man in the right-most photograph on the billboard, and three others were acquitted in the bombing, but he was convicted of possessing false papers.","display_date":"July 18, 1990","series":"","timestamp":648273600000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Orlando Bosch</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/rt_1990_bosch_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="A Cuban police car drives past a billboard with the words, 'Full house of assassins,' written under mock playing cards with portraits of Adolf Hitler, George W. Bush and Cuban exiles Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch, both accused by the government of Fidel Castro of terrorism. (Enrique De La Osa (CUBA)/REUTERS)">"},{"date":"April 12, 1945","link":"","description":"As the longest-serving president, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued 2,819 pardons among his 3,796 clemency actions over 12 years. ","display_date":"1932-1945","series":"","timestamp":-780177600000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">Franklin D. Roosevelt</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/gt_1945_fdr_212x260.jpg" width="212" height="260" alt="President Franklin D. Roosevelt speaks at his inauguration for the fourth time on Jan. 20, 1945 in Washington D.C. (National Archive/Getty Images)">"},{"date":"Jan. 18, 1993","link":"http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,101652,00.html","description":"Just before leaving office, George H.W. Bush pardons Edwin L. Cox Jr., scion of one of Texas' richest families, who had spent six months in prison and been fined $250,000 for bank fraud. His father, oilman Edwin L. Cox Sr., later contributed at least $100,000 to Bush's presidential library.","display_date":"Jan. 18, 1993","series":"","timestamp":727333200000,"html":""},{"date":"Jan. 1, 1963","link":"http://www.acslaw.org/files/Presidential%20Pardons%20Issue%20Brief%20-%20October%202007.pdf ","description":"John F. Kennedy commutes the sentences of first-time offenders of the Narcotics Control Act of 1956. (Kennedy and successor Lyndon B. Johnson commuted the sentences of more than 200 people under the act.)","display_date":"1961-1963","series":"","timestamp":-220906800000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-img-hed">John F. Kennedy</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/gt_1963_jfk_212x260.jpg" width="212" height="260" alt="During his time in office, President John F. Kennedy commuted the sentences of first-time offenders of the Narcotics Control Act of 1956. (AFP/Getty Images)">"},{"date":"Feb. 19, 1999","link":"http://www.law.indiana.edu/ilj/volumes/v74/no4/flipper.pdf","description":"Bill Clinton grants the first posthumous pardon to Henry Flipper, a former slave and the first African-American to graduate from West Point. In 1881, Flipper was court-martialed for embezzling and conduct unbecoming an officer, convicted of the latter, and dishonorably discharged. He went on to distinguish himself in a number of public and private-sector jobs while fighting to clear his name before his death in 1940.","display_date":"Feb. 19, 1999","series":"","timestamp":919400400000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Clinton Grants the First Posthumous Pardon</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/gt_1999_clinton_flipper_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="President Bill Clinton, center, is surrounded by the descendants of Henry O. Flipper as he signs a pardon of Flipper -- West Point's first African-American graduate -- during a ceremony on Feb. 19, 1999, at the White House. (Chris Kleponis/AFP/Getty Images)">"},{"date":"Dec. 24, 1971","link":"http://www.history.com/audio/jimmy-hoffa-pardoned-by-nixon","description":"\rRichard Nixon pardons Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa four years into a 15-year sentence for jury tampering and fraud on the condition that he stay out of labor management for 10 years. He supported Nixon's re-election in 1972 and was believed to be trying to reassert his union power when he disappeared in 1975.","display_date":"Dec. 24, 1971","series":"","timestamp":62398800000,"html":""},{"date":"Jan. 21, 2001","link":"http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,99302,00.html","description":"Clinton's most controversial last-minute pardon went to Marc Rich, a wealthy commodities trader who fled the U.S. after being indicted in 1983 for evading $48 million in taxes, tax fraud and illegal deals with Iran. Rich's wife, Denise, left, was a major Democratic donor and gave $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library fund.","display_date":"Jan. 20, 2001","series":"","timestamp":980053200000,"html":"</p>
<h2 class="timeline-ing-hed">Marc Rich</h2>
<p><img src="http://www.propublica.org/projects/pardons/rt_2001_clinton_rich_390x260.jpg" width="390" height="260" alt="Denise Rich presents President Bill Clinton with a saxophone at the G&P Foundation gala in New York City on Nov. 30, 2000. (Mike Segar/Reuters)">"}]
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<p>Sources: <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/21/president-obama-grants-pardons-and-commutation">The White House</a>, United States <a href="http://www.justice.gov/pardon/statistics.htm">Office of the Pardon Attorney</a>, Department of Justice, The Minority Staff Committee on Government Reform – U.S. House of Representatives, The New York Times, The Washington Post, PardonPower.com/P.S. Ruckman, Jr., Yale Law School, University of Pittsburgh Law School, TIME magazine, The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, CNN.com, KITV/ABC News, LA Times, Texas Monthly, Frank Sinatra By Chris Rojek</p>
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Series: Presidential Pardons: White criminals seeking presidential pardons are nearly four times as likely to succeed as people of color, a ProPublica examination has found.

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Series: Presidential Pardons: White criminals seeking presidential pardons are nearly four times as likely to succeed as people of color, a ProPublica examination has found.

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