Jeffrey Toobin – The Pardon

From New York Times bestselling author and CNN legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin comes a timely exploration of the most controversial presidential pardon in American history—Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon—and its profound implications for our current political landscape.

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and A Cappella Books welcome author Jeffrey Toobin to discuss his new book, “The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy.”

This event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the venue.

About the Book

In this deeply reported narrative, Jeffrey Toobin recreates the behind-the-scenes political melodrama during the tumultuous period leading up to and following Nixon’s resignation. The narrative 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.

“The Pardon” introduces a largely forgotten figure, Benton Becker, the Washington lawyer sent personally by Ford to negotiate the pardon with Nixon. Becker’s fresh reflections provide a startling and cinematic picture of the former President—who proved a master manipulator even in exile.

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. Toobin argues that Ford’s pardon was a disaster—an unwise gift to an undeserving recipient, and one that creates an unsettling precedent likely to be tested by future occupants of the Oval Office.