The Final Days of the Clinton Administration

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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 constitu...

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...s were vast, setting an unheard of precedent for lame duck presidents. Many of Clinton’s actions were truly shameless, blatant abuses of power. Clinton’s two terms of presidency were marred by scandals, impeachment and lawsuits, but this did not stop him from saving the best for last. We may only hope that future two term presidents do not follow his standard of use of unchecked power in the final hour.

Bibliography

1. Bovard, James. Feeling Your Pain: The Explosion and Abuse of Government Power in the Clinton-Gore Years. New York: St. Martin’s, 2000

2. Olson, Barbra. The Final Days. Washington D.C.: Regnery Publishing INC., 2001

3. Braun, Stephen, Serrano, Richard A. “Clinton Pardons” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 25th, 2001.

4. Daday, Meg. “Clinton’s Final Days Controvesial” The online Observer Newspaper, Feb. 13th 2001.

http://www.dailyillini.com/jan01/jan18/news/news01.shtml

5. Doneberg, Jon. “Clinton Making a Strong Finish for final term” The Daily Illini, Jan. 18th 2001. http://www.dailyillini.com/jan01/jan18/news/news01.shtml

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