# Can a president pardon himself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 15, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024 "2016-11-15T01:15:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/1 "2016-11-15T01:15:36Z")
Should a president be convicted of a crime could he pardon himself? This must have been asked and answered in the Nixon years. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/2 "2016-11-15T01:51:03Z")
It was asked, and the opinion at the time was that Nixon could pardon himself, but the validity of such a pardon has never been considered in a court of law. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/3 "2016-11-15T02:17:13Z")
Keep in mind that a presidential pardon would only preclude a criminal prosecution in court; it would have no effect on Congress’s ability to impeach & remove the President from office. Also I think the political fallout from a sitting President pardoning himself would be so severe it might result in a constitutional amended being passed preventing it from ever happening again (say give Congress the power to override pardons by a 2/3rds majority in each house within 30-60 days of the pardon being issued or the amendment being ratified). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/4 "2016-11-15T04:58:43Z")
True, it wouldn’t affect the impeachment process, but my recollection from _The Final Days_ is that one of the options Nixon considered was to pardon himself and then immediately resign. White House counsel advised him that option was constitutionally permissible. ---
**Author:** ![dudemanjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@dudemanjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dudemanjack)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/5 "2016-11-15T12:37:36Z")
The president can only pardon federal crimes, correct? That would leave any state crimes fair game. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/6 "2016-11-15T13:03:27Z")
Had Hillary won the election, could she have immediately given herself a pre-emptive general pardon to obviate residual problems? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/7 "2016-11-15T13:07:37Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Had Hillary won the election, could she have immediately given herself a pre-emptive general pardon to obviate residual problems? Sure. Such an action would be politically disastrous, but I don’t think it would be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/8 "2016-11-15T13:30:30Z")
It would look pretty bad for a President to pardon himself & stay in office. But there are ways. [ul] [li]For example, Nixon fled Washington with the hounds of Impeachment baying at his heels. So his stooge Vice President Ford pardoned him. (That’s the VP put in place after Agnew resigned in disgrace.) [/li] [li]Bush the Smarter pardoned Weinberger & others in the Iran/Contra affair. If their trials had proceeded, he might well have been named. So he was pardoning himself in advance. Really neat![/li] [li]If Trump gets out of hand & angers Congress, some ethical matters could come up. Perhaps involving his kids’ running his business while wielding government power. (_Shocking_ news!) So he retires to Trump Tower & President Pence pardons him.[/li][/ul] Adventures in Republican Ethics! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-pardon-himself/772024/9 "2016-11-16T15:32:42Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Had Hillary won the election, could she have immediately given herself a pre-emptive general pardon to obviate residual problems? Not “immediately.” She’d have to wait until Jan. 20. Previous threads on the perennial self-pardon question: > **[Can a current prisoner become President of the USA?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=659205)** > > \[ul\] \[li\]Can a incarserated felon get on the ballot in enough states to theoretically stand a chance of winning the presidency?\[/li\]\[li\]If he does win, can he give himself a presidential pardon and get free, or does he have to rule from his prison... > **[Could the POTUS Pardon Himself?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=672120)** > > Let’s start with a hypothetical scenario: A U.S. president, steals money from the public treasury—millions of dollars. When the details of the theft become public, he resigns from office. People cry for prosecution. Problem is, prior to resigning,... > **[Bush Sr. pardoning himself??](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495837)** > > As suggested in this threadhttp://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495758 I was intrigued that Pres. Bush the first would have considered pardoning himself for something. I can’t recall him doing anything that would require him even... > **[US Presidential Self Pardon - legal challenge proceedings](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495758)** > > With George W. Bush’s term nearly up, there’s questions in the air about a possible self pardon. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton all considered this but didn’t. Looking around at various sources, there doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus on... > **[If you were G.W. Bush, would you issue a blanket pardon of yourself...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=464441)** > > …before you left office? I proposed this idea in a presidential pardon thread, but no one responded. So, I’m asking it in a separate thread. W’s approval of torture might zoom to the top as his primary concern of potential prosecution. I think it... > **[Did Bush pardon himself for war crimes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=452353)** > > I just saw this video. I did some searches to actually find the legislation, but since no title of the actual legislation is given nor are there any direct quotes, I can’t find it. Most of the things I find are quoting the claims Cafferty makes in... > **[Who can arrest the President?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=399771)** > > http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mprezarrest.htm A fine report on a knotty legal issue. I’d be interested to know what Justice Joseph Story wrote on the question (referred to in passing in the article). I recall that President Ulysses S. Grant...