The Pardon Controversy

The Pardon Controversy refers to the national outrage and debate that erupted when President Gerald R. Ford granted a full and unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon for any crimes he might have committed while in office - particularly during the Watergate scandal.

Background

• On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned the presidency - the first U.S. president ever to do so - after the Watergate scandal made impeachment inevitable.


• Vice President Gerald Ford became President.


• The nation expected that Nixon might soon face criminal prosecution for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and other offenses.

The Pardon Itself

On September 8, 1974, President Ford issued Proclamation 4311, which stated:
I, Gerald R. Ford, ... do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he ... has committed or may have committed ... during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.

Ford’s Justification

President Ford defended his action as an effort to heal the nation:
Our long national nightmare is over… The tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks could be irreparably lost by the prospects of bringing to trial a former President of the United States.

He argued that continuing investigations and a potential trial would divide the country further and distract from recovery after Watergate.

Legal & Historical Outcome

• Nixon never faced prosecution; he accepted the pardon on September 8, 1974, implying a tacit admission of guilt under the legal principle of acceptance equals confession.


• The controversy cost Ford politically - many historians believe it contributed heavily to his loss to Jimmy Carter in 1976.


• Decades later, Ford’s decision was re-evaluated by historians as an act of political courage that may have helped the U.S. move past the crisis.


• In 2001, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation awarded Ford the Profile in Courage Award for issuing the pardon.