The Pardon

Name: The Pardon
Price: 39.99 AUD
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ISBN: 9781668084953

The Politics of Presidential Mercy

Jeffrey Toobin

$39.99

Paperback

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English

Simon & Schuster
12 March 2026

Political science & theory; Courts & procedure; Judicial powers; Government powers

“A splendid narrative about political power and mercy.” —David Grann, #1 bestselling author of The Wager

The power of the presidential pardon has our national attention now more than ever before. This “thought-provoking and strenuously argued” (The Washington Post) book from New York Times bestselling author and CNN legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin provides a timely and compelling narrative of the most controversial presidential pardon in American history—Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon, revealing the profound implications for our current political landscape, and how it is already affecting the legacies of both Presidents Biden and Trump.

In this deeply reported book, Toobin explores why the Founding Fathers gave the power of pardon to the President and recreates the behind-the-scenes political melodrama during the tumultuous period around Nixon’s resignation. The story features a rich cast of characters, including Alexander Haig, Nixon’s last chief of staff, who pushed for the pardon, and a young Justice Department lawyer named Antonin Scalia, who provided the legal justification.

Ford’s shocking decision to pardon Nixon was widely criticized at the time, yet it has since been reevaluated as a healing gesture for a divided country. But Toobin argues that Ford’s pardon was an unwise gift to an undeserving recipient and an unsettling political precedent. The Pardon explores those that followed: Jimmy Carter’s amnesty for Vietnam draft resisters, Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, and the extraordinary story of Trump’s unprecedented pardons at the end of his first term.

“A master class on a power wielded by presidents for more than 200 years” (The Guardian), The Pardon is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, the complex dynamics of power within the highest office in the nation, and the implications of presidential mercy.

By: Jeffrey Toobin
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 213mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 281g
ISBN: 9781668084953
ISBN 10: 1668084953
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 12 March 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jeffrey Toobin, the longtime CNN legal commentator, is the author of ten books, including The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, The Run of His Life: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism, American Heiress, The Oath, Too Close to Call, and A Vast Conspiracy. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, he lives with his family in New York.

Reviews for The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy

""Toobin's thought-provoking and strenuously argued account proves instructive and timely in the wake of the fusillade of troubling pardons issued by Trump and Joe Biden. . . . Toobin's blow-by-blow account of the machinations undertaken on Nixon's behalf is riveting."" -The Washington Post ""Toobin's latest is the book for our tempestuous times. . . . well researched and highly readable, a master class on a power wielded by presidents for more than 200 years."" -The Guardian ""A compulsively readable, minute--by-minute account of how President Gerald Ford reached his decision in 1974 to pardon his disgraced predecessor, Richard Nixon, for the crimes uncovered during the Watergate scandal."" -Foreign Affairs ""In some ways, Toobin's book is impeccably timed. . . .But The Pardon isn't primarily about Trump or Biden. . . . Most of his book is given over to recounting what was-at least until recently-'the most controversial presidential pardon in American history': Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. . . . Toobin offers a granular narrative [and] admirably weaves all these threads together."" -The New York Times ""Jeffrey Toobin makes a convincing case that Ford's pardon of President Nixon set the stage for unchecked presidential power. . . . The road to Trump begins, in some moral sense, with the absolution of Nixon."" -The Atlantic ""With rich reporting and fresh insight, Jeffrey Toobin has woven together a splendid narrative about political power and mercy. The Pardon brilliantly illuminates a momentous decision in American history, and shows how it continues to reverberate today."" -David Grann, #1 bestselling author of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder