How do federal pardon rates compare to commutation rates for Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden?
Executive summary
Federal commutation use has surged under Biden: he issued roughly 4,165–2,500+ commutations in 2024–25 (sources vary by cut‑off), far outpacing other recent presidents; Obama previously held the modern record with 1,715 commutations in eight years [1] [2]. Pardons remain far fewer than commutations for recent presidents — Biden’s pardons number in the dozens vs. commutations in the thousands; Trump’s more recent actions include large numbers of pardons in 2025 alongside smaller commutation totals according to DOJ and reporting [1] [3] [4].
1. Clemency by type: why pardons and commutations tell different stories
Pardons and commutations are distinct powers: a pardon forgives and can restore rights, while a commutation reduces a sentence but leaves the conviction in place [5]. Historically, commutations were rarer until modern presidents used them to shorten long federal drug sentences — Obama granted 1,715 commutations, a high‑water mark before Biden’s actions [2] [1]. Reporting and DOJ tallies in 2025 show Biden focused overwhelmingly on commutations, creating a large numerical gap between his commutation and pardon counts [1] [6].
2. Biden: record commutations, modest pardons
Multiple sources record Biden as granting the most “acts of clemency” in modern times largely because of commutations. Pew reports Biden issued 4,165 commutations and 80 pardons across his term as its dataset captured in late January 2025, while other outlets reported single‑day mass commutations and larger cumulative counts (2,490 or 2,500) in mid‑January 2025 — the differences reflect evolving White House actions and data cutoffs [1] [7] [6]. Local reporting summarized Biden as issuing roughly 65 pardons and 1,634 commutations as of a December snapshot, underscoring that pardons stayed relatively low while commutations exploded [3].
3. Obama and the precedent for mass commutations
Barack Obama’s clemency record is the key precedent cited: he granted 1,715 commutations, largely for nonviolent drug offenders, which stood as the modern record until Biden’s mass actions [2]. That number explains why analysts compare later presidents’ commutation rates to Obama’s — he changed the baseline for administrative clemency use in the 21st century [2].
4. Trump: pardons concentrated and politically charged
Donald Trump’s clemency pattern differs: prior counts show Trump issuing many high‑profile pardons (including dozens in 2024 and large mass actions in 2025) while his commutation totals remained much smaller by comparison. DOJ postings and news coverage record mass pardons tied to January 6 cases and other politically sensitive grants in 2025; DOJ’s clemency page documents Trump’s proclamations in that period [4] [8]. Independent trackers and outlets report Trump’s pardons in the hundreds across 2025 events while commutations stayed in the tens or low hundreds in available reporting [3] [9].
5. George W. Bush, Clinton and earlier presidents: lower commutation activity
Available reporting notes that George W. Bush issued relatively few commutations (around 11 reported in one compilation) and about 200 pardons across his two terms; earlier presidents’ clemency practices varied but did not approach the large commutation volumes seen under Obama and Biden [9] [10]. Specific, consistently compiled year‑by‑year totals for Clinton and George H.W. Bush are not provided in the current set of sources; available sources do not mention comprehensive Clinton-era commutation/pardon breakdowns in this dataset.
6. Data caveats: timing, definitions and divergent tallies
Counts vary across sources because of differing cut‑offs, whether a source counts “acts of clemency” (pardon+commutation+other actions) or separates them, and because administrations issued large batch actions in single days [1] [6]. For example, Pew’s late‑January 2025 tally lists Biden’s total as 4,245 acts of clemency (including 4,165 commutations and 80 pardons), whereas NPR and Wikipedia record the January 17–20, 2025 mass commutations in the 1,500–2,490 range depending on day and inclusion rules [1] [6] [7].
7. What the numbers mean politically and legally
High commutation counts reflect policy choices: Obama and Biden used commutations to address long federal drug sentences and death‑row cases; Trump’s high‑profile pardons targeted political allies and January 6 defendants, raising partisan and legal controversy [2] [11] [4]. The Office of the Pardon Attorney explains the administrative process but presidents may act outside its recommendations; that institutional gap affects how clemency is perceived and implemented [12] [8].
Limitations: this analysis uses only the provided reporting, which contains differing tallies and incomplete breakdowns for some presidents; specific Clinton-era totals and consistent, final DOJ cumulative tables for all five presidents in one place are not available in the supplied sources (available sources do not mention full comparative tables for all five presidents).