Examines the contentious events surrounding President Fords decision to pardon Nixon, featuring key players such as Alexander Haig and Benton Becker, and explores its long-term impact on American politics and the presidency, arguing that this was not a necessary act of healing, but rather an unwise gift to an undeserving recipient.
A splendid narrative about political power and mercy. David Grann, #1 best-selling author of The Wager
The power of the presidential pardon has our national attention now more than ever before. In The Pardon, New York Times bestselling author and CNN legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin provides a timely and compelling narrative of the most controversial presidential pardon in American historyGerald Fords pardon of Richard Nixon, revealing the profound implications for our current political landscape, and how it is already affecting the legacies of both Presidents Biden and Trump.
In this deeply reported book, Toobin explores why the Founding Fathers gave the power of pardon to the President and recreates the behind-the-scenes political melodrama during the tumultuous period around Nixons resignation. The story features a rich cast of characters, including Alexander Haig, Nixons last chief of staff, who pushed for the pardon, and a young Justice Department lawyer named Antonin Scalia, who provided the legal justification.
Fords shocking decision to pardon Nixon was widely criticized at the time, yet it has since been reevaluated as a healing gesture for a divided country. But Toobin argues that Fords pardon was an unwise gift to an undeserving recipient and an unsettling political precedent. The Pardon explores those that followed: Jimmy Carters amnesty for Vietnam draft resisters, Bill Clintons pardon of Marc Rich, and the extraordinary story of Trumps unprecedented pardons at the end of his first term.
The Pardon is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, the complex dynamics of power within the highest office in the nation, and the implications of presidential mercy.
