President Harrison and President Garfield Pardoned Zero People
Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution allows the sitting President to "grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."Presidential pardons have been issued for hundreds of years. George Washington, for instance, pardoned 16 people during his time as President, including the two men who were convicted of treason for their part in the Whiskey Rebellion.
In those days, the President would write up the Presidential pardons by hand. Nowadays, they are prepared by staff and signed by the President.
Some Presidents have pardoned thousands of people. Jimmy Carter, for instance, pardoned 200,000 people for Vietnam draft evasion.
Franklin D. Roosevelt has the most "official" pardons with a total of 3,687.
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It's tradition that on their way out of the White House, Presidents will pardon a number of people as they head out the door.
Some of these pardons have been very controversial, such as when President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden.
President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon in September of 1974.
Sometimes pardons can be unremarkable; sometimes they can be very controversial.
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Two Presidents in the history of the United States have pardoned NOBODY - these two Presidents are President William Henry Harrison and President James A. Garfield.
President William Henry Harrison was only President for one month and was the first sitting US President to die in office.
It is thought that President Harrison, who was just 68 years old when he passed away, died of typhoid fever. Since President Harrison was in office for just one month, he didn't have the opportunity or time to pardon anybody.
The second US President who didn't pardon a single person was President James A. Garfield.
Again, the reason for the zero Presidential pardons from President Garfield is quite simple - he was assassinated just six months into his first term in the White House.
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Some US Presidents pardon sparingly, while others pardon thousands.
Two US Presidents pardoned absolutely nobody due to dying early on in their first terms in office.
Filed under: General Knowledge
