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Office of the Pardon Attorney

Presidential Clemency Actions by Administration (1945 to Present)

PRESIDENTIAL CLEMENCY ACTIONS BY ADMINISTRATION: 1945 to Present

Table of Contents

(P=Pardon; C=Commutation; R=Remission of Fine)

Harry S. Truman
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied or Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C R

FY 1945

 479 201 98 9 2 133
FY 1946 438 977 279 28 3 570
FY 1947 535 779 308 13 2 483
FY 1948 508 657 178 15 0 411
FY 1949 561 638 178 17 1 313
FY 1950 690 504 400 14 3 338
FY 1951 439 467 189 10 1 228
FY 1952 478 477 192 6 0 214
FY 1953 543 330 91 6 1 197
Total (93 mos.)   5,030 1,913 118 13 2,887

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied or Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C R
FY 1953 578 269 6 1 0 159
FY 1954 681 461 55 7 0 348
FY 1955 732 662 59 4 0 684
FY 1956 647 585 192 9 0 568
FY 1957 463 585 232 4 0 443
FY 1958 369 406 98 6 0 302
FY 1959 369 434 117 2 0 286
FY 1960 398 437 149 5 0 244
FY 1961 437 261 202 9 0 145
Total (96 mos.)   4,100 1,110 47 0 3,179

John F. Kennedy
Year Petitions Pending

Petitions Received

Petitions Granted

Petitions Denied or Closed Without
Presidential Action

P C R
FY 1961 342 220 24 9 0 121
FY 1962 408 595 166 16 0 315
FY 1963 506 592 133 43 2 233
FY 1964 687 342 149 32 1 162
Total (34 mos.)   1,749 472 100 3 831

Lyndon B. Johnson

Year

 Petitions Pending Petitions Received

Petitions Granted

Petitions Denied or Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C
FY 1964 685 579 166 40 0 275
FY 1965 783 1,008 195 80 0 569
FY 1966 947 865 364 80 1 726
FY 1967 532 109 419 444 222 23 0 147 373
FY 1968 582 157 409 340 13 3 0 106 309
FY 1969 872 185 278 195 0 0 0 129 196
Total (62 mos.)   4,537 960 226 1 2,830

Richard M. Nixon

Year

Petitions Pending Petitions Received

Petitions Granted

Petitions Denied or Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C
FY 1969 1,021 184 136 115 0 0 0 123 57
FY 1970 1,034 242 337 122 82 14 0 432 266
FY 1971 857 84 266 188 157 16 0 436 212
FY 1972 530 44 346 170 235 18 2 252 158
FY 1973 389 36 323 162 202 4 1 198 143
FY 1974 312 50 291 135 187 8 0 209 128
FY 1975 207 49 - - 0 0 0 0 0
Total (67 mos.)     1,699 892 863 60 3 1,650 964

Gerald R. Ford
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied or Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C
FY 1975 207 49 351 259 147 5 4 166 159
FY 1976 245 140 502 240 106 11 0 199 243
FY 1977 442 126 125 50 129 6 1 70 63
Total (29 mos.)     978 549 382 22 5 435 465

Jimmy Carter
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied Petitions Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C P C
FY 1977 368 106 292 271 0 1 0 1 0 118 49
FY 1978 541 327 379 262 162 3 0 307 409 74 46
FY 1979 377 131 436 274 143 10 0 138 123 55 132
FY 1980 477 140 355 168 155 8 3 150 106 161 81
FY 1981 366 108 119 71 74 7 0 42 35 11 18
Total (48 mos.)     1,581 1,046 534 29 3 638 673 419 326

Ronald Reagan
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied Petitions Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C P C
FY 1981 358 119 220 137 2 0 0 0 0 66 87
FY 1982 510 169 283 179 83 3 0 258 123 81 85
FY 1983 371 137 298 149 91 2 0 74 33 96 103
FY 1984 409 147 289 158 37 5 0 99 31 95 101
FY 1985 467 168 256 151 32 3 0 86 18 66 109
FY 1986 540 188 222 140 55 0 0 94 28 65 103
FY 1987 548 197 227 183 23 0 0 115 34 52 110
FY 1988 588 236 236 148 38 0 0 205 43 68 181
FY 1989 513 160 68 60 32 0 0 38 8 23 26
Total (96 mos.)     2,099 1,305 393 13 0 969 318 612 905

George H.W. Bush
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied Petitions Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C P C
FY 1989 488 186 115 130 9 1 0 122 22 41 112
FY 1990 432 184 206 148 0 0 0 94 22 59 114
FY 1991 485 196 172 146 29 0 0 390 198 62 31
FY 1992 180 109 174 205 0 0 0 45 76 40 31
FY 1993 269 207 64 106 36 2 0 25 111 18 8
Total (48 mos.)     731 735 74 3 0 676 429 220 296

William J. Clinton
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied Petitions Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C P C
FY 1993 260 192 172 526 0 0 0 1 2 33 53
FY 1994 392 656 228 580 0 0 0 175 400 74 136
FY 1995 371 700 209 403 53 3 0 158 258 39 133
FY 1996 330 709 204 308 0 0 0 72 139 23 137
FY 1997 438 736 209 476 0 0 0 69 325 38 123
FY 1998 540 764 201 407 21 0 0 54 126 37 161
FY 1999 628 884 261 748 34 12 2 126 231 36 208
FY 2000 693 1,179 336 1,052 70 6 0 0 790 61 176
FY 2001 894 1,259 181 988 218 40 0 0 116 12 32
Total (96 mos.)     2,001 5,488 396 61 2 655 2,387 353 1,159

George W. Bush
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied Petitions Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C P C
FY 2001 (8.5 mos.) 923 2,063 110 548 0 0 0 0 1 45 277
FY 2002 988 2,332 152 1,096 0 0 0 519 1,466 53 240
FY 2003 565 1,715 172 851 7 0 0 51 819 21 159
FY 2004 659 1,588 235 951 12 2 0 108 632 42 178
FY 2005 733 1,728 252 807 39 0 0 89 411 35 296
FY 2006 822 1,829 254 759 39 0 0 255 779 53 315
FY 2007 729 1,495 334 925 16 2 0 0 0 75 336
FY 2008 972 2,083 555 1,770 44 2 0 513 2,182 107 360
FY 2009 (3.5 mos.) 864 1,309 434 869 32 5 0 194 1,208 33 62
Total (96 mos.)     2,498 8,576 189 11 0 1,729 7,498 464 2,223

Barack H. Obama
Year Petitions Pending Petitions Received Petitions Granted Petitions Denied Petitions Closed Without
Presidential Action
P C P C P C R P C P C
FY 2009 (8.5 mos.) 1,040 903 232 1,086 0 0 0 0 0 132 120
FY 2010 1,140 1,869 262 1,902 0 0 0 0 0 116 341
FY 2011 (6 mos.) 1,286 3,430 152 980 9 0 0 131 1,157 39 194
Total (26.5 mos.)     646 3,968 9 0 0 131 1,157 287 655

_____________________

LEGEND: The statistics for petitions granted are taken from a count of clemency warrants maintained by the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Cases in which multiple forms of relief were granted are counted in only one category. Cases in which clemency was granted to a person who did not file an application with the Office of the Pardon Attorney are counted as “Petitions Granted” but have not been counted as “Petitions Pending” or “Petitions Received” since at least FY 1990. The figures for commutations exclude one reprieve granted in FY 2000 and one granted in FY 2001. Also excluded from this chart are individual members of a class of persons granted pardons by proclamation, such as President Carter’s proclamation granting clemency to certain Vietnam era offenders, and persons granted clemency after action by President Ford’s Presidential Clemency Board. “Fiscal year” was originally defined as July 1 to June 30, but in 1976 became October 1 to September 30. "Petitions Pending" means pending at the beginning of the fiscal year or, in the case of a change of administration, the number of cases pending at the time of the new President’s inauguration; that number may not correspond with the number computed from case-processing figures reported for the previous year due to the fact that minor subsequent corrections in case closure for a previous fiscal year(s) have been made.

Last Updated:
April 4, 2011


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