Ballotpedia's Daily Brew 4-20-18: C

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#FridayFact Answer

Today's #FridayFact asked: Earlier in the week we discussed presidential pardons. Which former president had the lowest average pardons per year in office?

You selected from the following choices.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Jimmy Carter
• George H.W. Bush
• Bill Clinton

You guessed correctly that the answer was George H.W. Bush. President Bush issued 189 pardons while in office for an annual average of 21 pardons. The U.S. Constitution, in Article II, Section 2, grants the president what is known as the power of “executive clemency.” Executive clemency includes, above all else, the power to pardon: the process through which the president overturns a federal conviction and restores “an individual to the state of innocence that existed before the conviction.”

HISTORICAL FACTS

Between 1902 and 2016, Franklin Roosevelt (D) issued, on average, more pardons than any other president.

Presidents can pardon someone who has not been charged. Presidents have issued “preemptive” pardons for individuals who may be suspected of wrongdoing but have yet to be charged or convicted.

From 1902 to 2018 a total of 14,193 pardons have been issued.