Federal Presidential Pardon» quid pro quo http://www.federalpresidentialpardon.com A Study of Noteworthy Presidential Pardons Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:35:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 Ford's Pardon of Nixon http://www.federalpresidentialpardon.com/2009/11/01/fords-pardon-of-nixon/ http://www.federalpresidentialpardon.com/2009/11/01/fords-pardon-of-nixon/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:45:47 +0000 Brian J. Zeiger http://federalpresidentialpardon.com/?p=34 Probably the most infamous pardon in our history is Ford’s Pardon of Nixon. The Watergate scandal lead to Nixon’s fall. What makes this pardon noteworthy is why Ford would pardon Nixon at all.  A question remains whether the pardon was a quid pro quo; i.e. that Nixon agreed to make Ford president if Ford agreed to pardon tricky dick.

We will never know.

The people did not elect Ford to a second term. After his presidency, Ford cited to Burdick. Ford’s rationale was that by Nixon accepting the pardon, he implicitly acknowledged his illegal acts in Watergate.

]]> http://www.federalpresidentialpardon.com/2009/11/01/fords-pardon-of-nixon/feed/ 0