Clinton End of Days

An Unprecedented End

The Final Days of the Clinton Administration.

By Michael Pemstein

Perhaps one of the most interesting times in a president's administration is during the end of his term in office. Having reached the ultimate goal in a politician's career, a president no longer has to worry about public opinion or any of the other political give and takes that usually influence a politician's actions. He is truly free to act as he pleases almost free of consequences. Bill Clinton's final days in office certainly demonstrated this fact. Using the ultimate unchecked executive power of clemency Clinton issued over 140 pardons and thirty six sentence commutations. He protected over a million acres of land through the creation of six new national monuments. He also nominated nine new federal judges. Clinton also issued a number of executive orders during this time. Unlike most previous presidents who laid low during their last days in office, Clinton was in a flurry of activity trying to exert some last bit of influence from his office. The reasons for his actions are wide spread, ranging from political to personal. The results of his actions were extensive, affecting many situations in the American political and judicial realms. The final days of Clinton administration may be the most controversial of a presidency that was full of tumult and plagued by scandals.

Most powers in our government do not go unchecked; the power of the presidential pardon is an exception to this rule. It is explicit in the constitution that this power was meant to be held solely by the president for the purpose of forcing him to use it sparingly and fairly. Nonetheless our government has evolved a system through which presidential pardons usually follow. The system was developed so as to insure that pardons were not used for personal or political gain. All clemency candidates are screened first by the department of justice and then a committee formed by the president before a full report, with recommendations for action, is presented to the president himself. Normally the department of justice does not consider an applicant eligible for a presidential pardon until five years after his or her sentence has been completed or after the conviction if no sentence is given. Also, according the normal regulations, pardons aren't granted to people who are under probation or parole. Due to the wording in the constitution, "He (the president) shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States...", these norms and regulations can be completely bypassed altogether. This is exactly what president Clinton did on his final day in office.

Of the 140 pardons that president Clinton issued on his last day as president, over fifty of them bypassed this system of regulation. Many of the motivations behind the pardons came under high scrutiny. Pardons issued by Clinton included many former and recent contributors to his wife's senatorial campaign. Other pardons were issued to prisoners whom hired Hugh Rodham (Hilary's brother) as a consultant to the pardon applications, at an enormous cost, some exceeding the hundred thousand dollar mark. Clinton also pardoned many people whom happened to have close relation to Clinton's family and friends, including his brother Roger Clinton, the reverend Jesse Jackson, as well as his brother in law Hugh Rodham. Despite these dubious situations surrounding the pardons no one was in any position to do anything about it.

Perhaps the only thing more outrageous than the alleged motivation behind many of the pardons were the people whom Clinton pardoned. For example, Dorothy Rivers was convicted of fraud, theft and tax evasion when she used money from government grants that was intended for under privileged children for her own personal use. She bought a fur coat, a Mercedes Benz as well as other lavish gifts for herself and her family. She was sentenced to five years and ten months in a federal prison. She was pardoned by Clinton on his final day in office having served three years. Many alleged that her close friendship to the reverend Jesse Jackson, advisor to President Clinton, could have been an influence in her pardon, however it is impossible to prove such allegations.

Another example of an outrageous pardon was that of drug trafficker Carlos Vignali. Carlos was convicted of drug trafficking in 1994 for shipping about a half ton of cocaine to Minneapolis. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. After his imprisonment his father Horatio Vignali became a large contributor to the Democratic Party. Sure enough Carlos made the president's list of eleventh hour pardons despite recommendations from the justice department that Carlos not be released.

It must be understood that many of President Clinton's pardons were very legitimate with reasonable justification behind them. He obviously wanted to leave a final mark on history as a forgiving president, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The issue is with the pardons that involved dubious motivations and applicants. In some cases it was an abuse of power unmatched by any president in history. It was a simply blatant exchange of presidential favors for party, personal and monetary gain. When the framers endowed on the executive this power of clemency they certainly could not have foreseen events such as these.

Some of the most interesting actions of President Clinton during his final days in office were the executive orders he issued. Many of them seemed to have the intention