ANSWERS: 3
  • Irrelevant, since the President's power to grant a pardon is absolute, as set forth in the Constitution. Agree or not, Ford made the decision.
  • Considering George Walker Bush’s obviously illegal warrantless wiretapping, detaining American citizens without charges and of course his tendency to add defiant statements to bills he signs into law, my answer is no -- I believe Ford should not have pardoned Nixon -- Perhaps if Nixon were ajudged fairly, Bush would think twice about breaking the law today. Ford's pardon loosened the Constitutional restrains on presidential abuses of power, and it signaled that in the United States there are in fact two systems of justice, one for the politically powerful and well-connected, the other for the rest of the Americans.
  • Yes.He pardoned a president charged with obstructing justice.If Nixon stood trial,was convicted,and sent to prison,this would create a historical precedent that would have weakened and possibly diluted the power of the office of the presidency. It could have created a legacy that would enter into future presidencies.This could have hurt the economy and stability of the nation,domestically,and internationally. Ford pardoned a guilty man,doomed his own political future,but spared the country.

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