ABSTRACT
Warren G. Harding initially favored clemency for First World War opponents but reversed his stance following heavy criticism directed at him for pardoning Eugene V. Debs, the Socialist Party leader who had been convicted under a statute prohibiting antiwar activity. Regardless of what the form of clemency is termed, the exercise of that executive power is typically unpopular with the public, since it shortcuts the normal judicial process. The fundamental issue is whether the type of clemency is intended as limited or broad, regardless of the label applied. As president, Washington set the precedent for exercise of the only unchecked constitutional power granted to the chief executive by rarely granting clemency. A consistent, if largely underrecognized, pattern can be discerned in the clemency record of presidents. Jimmy Carter had to present his clemency for Vietnam War resisters, which was more generous than Gerald Ford's, by calling it a "pardon" rather than an amnesty.
