March 08, 2007

Pardon Me, Sir...

All of the will-he-or-won't-he buzz about President Bush pardoning I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby prompted the Washington Post to compile a list of each president's lucky choices. (The Post's graphic isn't online, but University of Pittsburgh's law school has its own list with slightly different numbers.)

Harry Truman tops the list, with a whopping 2,031 granted during his two terms in the White House. He was also the first president to pardon a turkey in 1947, ushering in the annual Thanksgiving ritual.

Clearly, the practice was more common in the past. Lyndon B. Johnson was second to Truman with 1,186; Dwight D. Eisenhower had 1,157.

In recent years, Democrats have been a shade more pardon-happy than Republicans. Bill Clinton had 457 pardons to Ronald Reagan's 406; single-termer George H.W. Bush had just 77.

Richard Nixon -- himself pardoned in 1974, of course -- granted 923.

Posted at 3:31 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration
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