How do clemency rates compare between Democratic and Republican presidents since 1993?
Executive summary
Since 1993 Democratic presidents (Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden) granted far more acts of clemency overall than their Republican counterparts (George W. Bush, Donald Trump [first term], and—where covered—Trump’s second term is noted separately), with Pew reporting Biden issued 4,245 acts of clemency in his four-year term—more than any president since 1900—and that Biden’s totals alone exceeded the last five Republican presidents combined in modern comparisons [1] [2]. Official Department of Justice tallies and compilations (Office of the Pardon Attorney; Ballotpedia) are the underlying sources for these counts [3] [4].
1. Clemency by party since 1993: the headline numbers
Democratic presidents since 1993 show markedly higher clemency totals in recent reporting: Pew’s count of Biden’s four-year total is 4,245 acts of clemency, a historic high that outpaces other modern presidents and, per Pew, exceeds the combined totals of the last five Republican presidents in recent years [1] [2]. DOJ resources and curated lists (Office of the Pardon Attorney; “Clemency Recipients”) provide the raw records for each president’s pardons and commutations [3] [5].
2. How analysts and data sources measure “clemency”
Analyses rely on the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s count of clemency warrants, which treats pardons, commutations and other acts as “acts of clemency” and counts cases with multiple relief types carefully; proclamations or group amnesties processed outside the Office (e.g., certain Carter or Ford actions) may be excluded from DOJ tallies, so comparisons can depend on which dataset an analyst uses [3] [4]. Pew explicitly used DOJ data to compare presidents back to the 20th century [1].
3. Time and timing matter: late‑term surges skew comparisons
Modern presidents often concentrate large clemency actions late in a term. Pew highlights Biden’s Dec. 12 single-day action (1,538 people) as the largest single-day grant in modern history and notes that late-term surges affect totals significantly—Biden’s Dec. 12 actions accounted for the bulk of his overall count [2]. That pattern complicates simple party-to-party comparisons because a single late-term proclamation or mass commutation can shift totals dramatically [2].
4. Recent Republican totals and deviations from prior patterns
Analysts note Republicans traditionally granted fewer acts of clemency overall; Newsweek summarized that Republican presidents historically granted fewer total clemencies than Democrats over long spans [6]. Trump’s first term granted relatively few acts compared with many predecessors; Pew reported only two presidents since 1900 (George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush) granted fewer acts than Trump [1]. Separate reporting documents Trump’s later, large-scale second‑term clemency actions—sources list thousands of pardons/commutations in 2025—creating a different picture for comparisons if those later actions are included [7] [8].
5. Motives and controversies: partisan patterns and critiques
Observers point to partisan or political motives shaping who receives clemency. Pew and other outlets documented criticism of both parties: Republicans criticized Obama for drug‑sentence commutations, while critics said Trump often favored political allies and bypassed formal DOJ processes; Pew noted Trump’s first-term pattern of pardoning people with personal or political connections and reported process irregularities raised by analysts [1] [7]. Reporting about Trump’s second presidency includes allegations the process favored political loyalists and wealthy recipients and that the Office of the Pardon Attorney was sidelined [7].
6. Limitations, open questions and what the sources do not say
Available sources provide counts and descriptive critiques but do not, in these excerpts, standardize metrics like “clemency per petition received,” the mix of pardons vs. commutations, or normalized rates relative to presidential tenure length beyond the Pew and DOJ summaries [3] [1]. Some counts exclude proclamations or Board actions processed outside the Office of the Pardon Attorney, which can change totals if included [3]. Detailed, reconciled party-to-party clemency rates across every president since 1993—normalized for petitions or tenure—are not presented directly in the provided reporting [3] [1].
7. Bottom line for readers
If your comparison is simple totals since 1993, reporting shows Democratic presidents—especially Biden—granted far more acts of clemency than recent Republican presidents [1] [2]. If you want a nuanced metric—shares of petitions granted, pardons versus commutations, or per‑year rates—you should consult the raw DOJ clemency warrants and presidential-by-presidential tables (Office of the Pardon Attorney; Ballotpedia) because published summaries and single-day mass actions can skew headline comparisons [3] [4].