What was the total number of pardons granted by Barack Obama?

1. What the official totals say: 212 pardons, 1,715 commutations

The White House’s final clemency announcements and subsequent Department of Justice records show that by January 20, 2017, Obama had issued 212 pardons and commuted roughly 1,715 sentences, producing a combined 1,927 acts of clemency ^{[1] [4] [2]}. The White House highlighted that the January 17–19, 2017, actions added 64 pardons and hundreds of commutations that brought his totals to these levels ^[1].

2. Why many stories mix up pardons and commutations

Pardons and commutations are different legal acts: a pardon restores rights and can erase legal consequences of a conviction, while a commutation reduces or ends a sentence but leaves the conviction in place. Several viral claims and some public discussions misstated Obama’s clemency numbers by treating his 1,715 commutations as “pardons.” Fact-checkers and reporting (including Snopes and PolitiFact) explicitly correct that error and emphasize the distinction ^{[3] [4]}.

3. How other sources corroborate the 212 number

Independent outlets and legal organizations echo the 212-pardon total. The BBC and the American Bar Association summarized Obama’s clemency record by reporting 212 pardons alongside the record-setting commutations, and ThoughtCo compiled lists consistent with the Department of Justice data ^{[5] [2] [6]}. These multiple sources align with the White House’s own archived statements ^[1].

4. Outliers and earlier counts: smaller running totals during his term

At various points during Obama’s presidency commentators noted much smaller pardon counts — for example, reports earlier in a term counted only dozens of full pardons while commutations rose — which sometimes led to headlines emphasizing his “few pardons” relative to commutations ^[7]. Those snapshots reflected mid-term totals and the administration’s strategy of prioritizing sentence commutations, particularly for nonviolent drug offenders ^[7].

5. What the numbers meant politically and legally

Obama’s clemency approach focused on reducing long drug sentences via commutations, prompting praise from criminal-justice reform advocates and criticism from some political opponents who argued he overused executive clemency or neglected pardon exercises. Media and legal analysis framed the record commutations as a deliberate policy choice distinct from traditional use of pardons ^{[4] [2]}.

6. Persistent misinformation: common errors you will see

The most common misstatements are (a) treating every commutation as a pardon and claiming Obama “pardoned more than 1,700 people,” and (b) quoting early-term counts (e.g., “70 pardons to date”) without updating to the final 212 figure. Fact-checkers directly debunk the first error and provide context showing Obama’s total pardons ^[8] were below many predecessors even as his commutations were historically high ^{[3] [4]}.

7. Where to find the original lists and primary data

Primary, government-maintained records of pardons and commutations are available through the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney and the Obama White House archives; those sources underpin the summarized totals used by reporters and legal analysts ^{[9] [1]}. ThoughtCo and law‑bar analyses also provide compiled lists referencing the DOJ data ^{[6] [2]}.

Limitations and final note: available sources do not mention any alternative official totals that contradict the 212 pardons number; discrepancies in public conversation arise from conflating commutations and pardons or citing interim tallies rather than the final January 2017 totals ^{[1] [3]}.