How many presidential pardons did Barack Obama grant by number and list of recipients?
Executive summary
Barack Obama issued a large number of clemency actions during his presidency: available official counts show he granted 212 pardons and 1,715 commutations for a total often cited as 1,927 acts of clemency (Justice Department and White House figures) [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and databases differ on how to present those numbers (some outlets highlight smaller interim tallies such as 70 pardons at particular dates), so lists of recipients are best taken from the Department of Justice’s Pardons pages and White House announcements, which publish the names for each grant [1] [4].
1. What the official tallies say — pardons versus commutations
The Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney and the Obama White House consistently reported that Obama granted 212 pardons over his two terms and commuted 1,715 sentences; those figures are cited on the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s lists and in White House summaries of clemency actions [1] [2]. News outlets and secondary aggregators sometimes present different snapshots (for example, interim counts such as 70 pardons at a given date), but the departmental records underpin the 212/1,715 breakdown [5] [2].
2. Why there is confusion in public counts
Multiple reporting moments, separate press releases and a major late-term commutation batch created shifting headlines. For example, near the end of his presidency Obama commuted 330 sentences on January 19, 2017 — a single-day spike that changed headline totals for commutations even while pardons remained relatively steady — and some outlets reported smaller, date-bound pardon counts like “78 pardons” on December 19, 2016 that reflected cumulative totals at that moment [6] [7] [8]. Aggregators and retrospective lists sometimes combine pardons and commutations or count only certain categories, producing different totals in secondary sources [9] [10].
3. Where to find the authoritative name lists
The Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney publishes lists of “Pardons Granted by President Barack H. Obama (2009–2017)” and companion pages for commutations; those pages are the primary source for recipient names and dates [1] [11]. The archived White House press releases also list recipients for each clemency action (for example, the December 19, 2016 announcement listing 78 pardons and 153 commutations) and can be used to compile a complete roster [4] [7].
4. What kinds of people were pardoned — patterns in recipients
Reporting and official statements show that many of Obama’s clemency recipients were low‑profile, often convicted of nonviolent drug offenses; the administration portrayed clemency as a tool to correct excessively long drug sentences imposed under older mandatory minimum regimes [2] [6]. High-profile examples were rare; notable pardons and commutations that drew media attention (e.g., Chelsea Manning’s commutation) were exceptions within a much larger group of less-publicized cases [12] [8].
5. Competing perspectives and political context
Supporters framed Obama’s clemency record as an effort to remedy sentencing inequities and to use executive power to reduce unjustly long terms; the White House emphasized that Obama commuted more sentences than the previous 13 presidents combined [2]. Critics argued Obama pardoned relatively few people compared with historic presidents when measured strictly by pardons (not commutations) and that his slow processing of petitions left many applicants waiting; some outlets noted that at various points Obama had granted only 70 full pardons, illustrating how metrics can be used differently [13] [5].
6. If you want the list of recipients — how to obtain it
For a complete, name-by-name roster, consult the Justice Department’s “Pardons Granted by President Barack H. Obama (2009–2017)” page and the archived White House press releases that list the recipients tied to specific announcements [1] [4]. Secondary compilations (news outlets, ThoughtCo lists) have reproduced those names; use the DOJ pages as the authoritative source and cross-check press releases for context and offense descriptions [14] [4].
Limitations and final note
This account is based solely on the provided reporting and official pages; available sources do not mention any alternate authoritative federal tally that contradicts the DOJ/White House counts cited here beyond the differing snapshots published by news outlets and databases [1] [2] [5]. If you want, I can compile the DOJ/White House lists into a single recipient list here or point to the exact DOJ pages you should download for a name-by-name extraction [1] [4].