# What did President Ford give President Nixon a pardon \*for\*? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416 "2015-11-12T23:15:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/41 "2015-11-15T00:18:36Z")
Is it possible to decline a pardon? If so, isn’t accepting a pardon a tacit admission of guilt? If I were offered a pardon tomorrow for federal crimes of kidnapping and child rape, I would decline it unreservedly as the association of my name with such charges is a gross libel. (Now, if I were Jared from Subway, I might very well welcome such an offer.) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/42 "2015-11-15T00:54:16Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Why the hell would a draft dodger go to China Beach? > > Hiding in plain sight? Cass was in Thunder Bay INSTEAD OF China Beach. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/43 "2015-11-15T01:12:29Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > Is it possible to decline a pardon? Yes, it is. US v. Wilson, 32 U.S. 150 (1833). George Wilson robbed the Reading, Pennsylvania mail and threatened the life of the mail carrier – a then federal capital crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to death. President Andrew Jackson pardoned Wilson’s death sentence, which had the effect of commuting his sentence to life in prison, but Wilson refused to accept the pardon – essentially saying he’d rather die than spend his life locked up. So the question the Supreme Court had to answer was: could Wilson refuse to accept the pardon? And they said he could: > [@Supreme Court](#): > > A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which, delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete, without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered; and if it be rejected, we have discovered no power in a court to force it on him. It may be supposed, that no being condemned to death would reject a pardon; but the rule must be the same in capital cases and in misdemeanors. A pardon may be conditional; and the condition may be more objectionable than the punishment inflicted by the judgment. > [@Grotonian](#): > > If so, isn’t accepting a pardon a tacit admission of guilt? Yes, it is. Burdick v. US, 236 US 79 (1915): > [@Supreme Court](#): > > This brings us to the differences between legislative immunity and a pardon. They are substantial. The latter carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it. The former has no such imputation or confession. It is tantamount to the silence of the witness. It is non-committal. It is the unobtrusive act of the law giving protection against a sinister use of his testimony, not like a pardon requiring him to confess his guilt in order to avoid a conviction of it. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/44 "2015-11-15T01:26:58Z")
Then again a preemptive blanket pardon such as Nixon’s includes any offences you _“ **may** have committed”_. You don’t have to own up to a specific one. If asked I might say it is possible I may be on the hook for unlawful hunting or fishing in federal lands. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. That the river crossed a state border and my guide was 16 had nothing to do with it.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/45 "2015-11-15T14:39:30Z")
Does this mean that if, say, I were exonerated by DNA evidence and the governor pardoned me to bypass the whole asking for a retrial scenario, that I would be agreeing I was guilty by accepting the pardon? It can’t mean that. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/46 "2015-11-15T17:50:58Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Does this mean that if, say, I were exonerated by DNA evidence and the governor pardoned me to bypass the whole asking for a retrial scenario, that I would be agreeing I was guilty by accepting the pardon? It can’t mean that. Why can’t it mean that? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/47 "2015-11-16T17:05:41Z")
What about pardoning the Thanksgiving turkey each year? Is guilt assumed then as well? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/48 "2015-11-16T17:09:39Z")
It’s clearly guilty of being a turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/49 "2015-11-16T17:15:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s clearly guilty of being a turkey. So was Nixon. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/50 "2015-11-16T17:19:48Z")
Yes, but he was pardoned so they didn’t slaughter him in the White House kitchen either. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/51 "2015-11-16T17:35:12Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > What about pardoning the Thanksgiving turkey each year? Is guilt assumed then as well? Ask [Morton](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ytyaBVNrE). ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/52 "2015-11-16T17:43:46Z")
But didn’t Reagan pardon Less Nessman for slaughter? ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/53 "2015-11-16T19:08:10Z")
He had God as his witness. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/54 "2015-11-16T19:54:43Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Does this mean that if, say, I were exonerated by DNA evidence and the governor pardoned me to bypass the whole asking for a retrial scenario, that I would be agreeing I was guilty by accepting the pardon? It can’t mean that. I vaguely recall some news item about this… The quick route to freedom was a governor’s pardon, but the person involved refused to acquiesce that he was guilty to begin with. Not sure of the paperwork or whatever required to “accept” a pardon - do you have to appear in front of a judge and say so? (IIRC, it was the fact that a pardon would bypass the long drawn out appeal process, so the guy would never get his day in court to be found not guilty.) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/55 "2015-11-16T20:09:26Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Does this mean that if, say, I were exonerated by DNA evidence and the governor pardoned me to bypass the whole asking for a retrial scenario, that I would be agreeing I was guilty by accepting the pardon? It can’t mean that. It can. The prosecution wants to re-try you – they, at least, continue to harbor belief in your factual guilt for some reason. You can go to trial armed with your new DNA evidence or take the pardon, but the pardon carries with it a tacit admission of guilt. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416/56 "2015-11-16T22:30:01Z")
To challenge the meaning (legal/colloquial) of “tacit” and “guilt”: Is your last sentence, with one word change, comparable to: “[…The Fifth Amendment, blah blah :)], but taking the Fifth carries with it the tacit admission of guilt.” A) Is that sentence as “true” as yours which uses “pardon?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-president-ford-give-president-nixon-a-pardon-for/737416.md?page=2)