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I Beg Your Pardon: What Does Trump’s Clemency of Roger Stone Reveal?

We think behavior reveals character, but we often create narratives without knowing the facts.

This week Mr. Trump commuted the prison sentence of his personal confidant and convicted felon, Roger Stone. Numerous commentators compared Mr. Trump unfavorably to Richard Nixon, noting that the president who had resigned in disgrace had never been this brazen in his corruption of the justice system. Perhaps we, and Mr. Trump, have as much to learn from the story of another presidential predecessor, Gerald Ford, whose birthday falls this week (born July 14, 1913).

The cautionary tale of President Gerald Ford.

A month after Nixon’s resignation made Ford president, Ford pardoned Nixon for his crimes in office. Ford framed his decision as providing a path for the nation to heal and move past the turmoil of Watergate, but he pardoned Nixon so quickly that many wondered whether it was part of a secret deal. Nobody has ever produced evidence of collusion between Ford and Nixon regarding Nixon’s pardon. However, even those who trusted Ford’s moral judgment considered the timing of the pardon to be politically inept. The impression that Ford made with his hasty pardon of Nixon imperiled his own…