Every president has used their pardon power — except two who ‘didn’t have the chance’

In pardoning his son Hunter, President Joe Biden opened himself up to fierce criticism from both sides of the aisle, with many accusing him of violating norms.

But, while this case stands out as being particularly controversial, the power to issue pardons has been used by nearly all of Biden’s predecessors, including President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama.

In fact, since the founding of the republic, every U.S. president has delivered pardons — questionable or otherwise — with just two exceptions.

William Henry Harrison and James Garfield hold the distinction of being the only presidents not to grant clemency during their time in the White House, according to historians.

“Both died in office and served the shortest administrations in American history,” Louis Picone, an adjunct professor of history at William Paterson University, told McClatchy News.

“There’s nothing — say, in their character — to suggest that they wouldn’t have (issued pardons) if they could have,” Taylor Stoermer, a historian at Johns Hopkins University, told McClatchy News. “They just didn’t have the chance.”

Harrison

William Henry Harrison, a Whig politician from Virginia, became the ninth president of the U.S. upon his inauguration in March 1841.

However, less than one month into his first term, he developed pneumonia and died on April 4 — becoming the first president to pass away while in office, according to White House records.

“Harrison died 31 days after taking the oath of office and was sick through much of his brief term,” said Picone, the author of “The President is Dead!” “He did little of substance during that time, let alone presidential pardons.”

“There wasn’t even a thought given to pardons,” Stoermer said.

This is because — much like today — pardons are typically doled out toward the end of a president’s term, Thomas Balcerski, a presidential historian at Eastern Connecticut State University, told McClatchy News.

Additionally, “as compared to modern presidents, the power of clemency was but rarely used in the 19th century,” Balcerski said.

For example, George Washington didn’t issue his first pardon until he’d been in office for five years, Picone said.

Garfield

James Garfield, America’s 20th president, similarly met an untimely end while in office.

A longtime Democratic representative from Ohio, he was elected in 1880 and inaugurated in March 1881.

However, four months into his term, on July 2, he was shot by a disgruntled lawyer while at a train station in Washington, D.C.

He then spent the next few months “in agony and out of action” and “rapidly deteriorated,” Picone said.

He was “effectively done for the next 79 days until he died” on Sept. 19 — before issuing a single pardon, Stoermer said.

This story was originally published December 3, 2024 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Every president has used their pardon power — except two who ‘didn’t have the chance’."