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These counts include all grants of clemency (convictions pardoned, commuted, and rescinded).
Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the most grants of clemency with 3,687.Herbert Hoover had the most grants of clemency for a one-term president with 1,385.Neither William Henry Harrison nor James A. Garfield issued a pardon before their death in office.
George Washington issued the fewest grants of clemency for a president who served at least one full term - 16.In addition the numbers in this table, Andrew Johnson also issued over 7,000 pardons for people who served in the Confederate Army and Jimmy Carter issued over 200,000 pardons for Vietnam War draft dodgers.
Richard M. Nixon is the only president to receive a pardon (from Gerald R. Ford ).* Indicates these are estimated numbers.
+ Incumbent president's numbers last updated 20 Jan 2021.
Rank # President Pardons
1 32 Franklin D. Roosevelt 3,687
2 28 Woodrow Wilson 2,480
3 33 Harry S. Truman 2,044
4 44 Barack Obama 1,927
5 30 Calvin Coolidge 1,545
6 31 Herbert Hoover 1,385
7 18 Ulysses S. Grant 1,332
8 36 Lyndon B. Johnson 1,187
9 34 Dwight D. Eisenhower 1,157
10 22 & 24 Grover Cleveland 1,107 *
11 26 Theodore Roosevelt 981 *
12 37 Richard M. Nixon 926
13 25 William McKinley 918 *
14 19 Rutherford B. Hayes 893
15 29 Warren G. Harding 800
16 27 William H. Taft 758
17 17 Andrew Johnson 654
18 23 Benjamin Harrison 613
19 35 John F. Kennedy 575
20 39 Jimmy Carter 566
21 42 Bill Clinton 459
22 5 James Monroe 419
23 38 Gerald R. Ford 409
24 40 Ronald Reagan 406
25 7 Andrew Jackson 386
26 16 Abraham Lincoln 343
27 21 Chester A. Arthur 337
28 11 James K. Polk 268
29 45 Donald J. Trump 238
30 10 John Tyler 209
31 43 George W. Bush 200
32 4 James Madison 196
33 6 John Quincy Adams 183
34 13 Millard Fillmore 170
35 8 Martin Van Buren 168
36 15 James Buchanan 150
37 14 Franklin Pierce 142
38 3 Thomas Jefferson 119
39 41 George H. W. Bush 77
40 12 Zachary Taylor 38
41 2 John Adams 21
42 1 George Washington 16
43 9 William Henry Harrison 0
43 20 James A. Garfield 0
43 46 Joe Biden 0 +
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