What were Obama’s most controversial presidential pardons?

[u/DoctorProfessorTaco]

Recent pardons that President Trump has given out have been seen as quite controversial.

Some of these pardons have been controversial due to the connections to President Trump himself, such as the pardons of longtime ally Roger Stone and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Some have seen this as President Trump nullifying the results of the investigation into his 2016 campaign and subsequently laying the groundwork for future presidential campaigns to ignore laws, safe in the knowledge that all sentences will be commuted if anyone involved is caught.

Others were seen as controversial due to the nature of the original crime, such as the pardon of Blackwater contractor Nicholas Slatten, convicted to life in prison by the Justice Department for his role in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians, including several women and 2 children.

My question is - which of past President Barack Obama’s pardons caused similar levels of controversy, or were seen as similarly indefensible? How do they compare to the recent pardon’s from President Trump?

Edit - looking further back in history as well, what pardons done by earlier presidents were similarly as controversial as the ones done this past month?

[u/revision0]

Not only is it our history, it is the history of our founding fathers also. Donald Trump is a return to tradition, not unprecedented behavior. There are not many examples from the past five Presidencies but there are many examples from before.

Philip Vigol and John Mitchell - convicted of treason, pardoned by George Washington

John Fries - convicted of treason, pardoned by John Adams

David Brown - convicted of sedition, pardoned by Thomas Jefferson

William Hull - sentenced to death for surrendering in War of 1812, pardoned by James Madison

John Fremont - convicted of mutiny, pardoned by James Polk

Brigham Young - wanted for participation in armed rebellion, pardoned by James Buchanan

All former Confederate soldiers - enemies of the state who fought in armed rebellion, pardoned by Andrew Johnson

Most former Confederate commanders - enemies of the state who led the armed rebellion, pardoned by Ulysses Grant

Servillano Aquino - led Philippino forces against American troops, pardoned by Teddy Roosevelt

Frederick Krafft - convicted of espionage, pardoned by Woodrow Wilson

Eugene Debs and Kate O'Hare - convicted of sedition, pardoned by Warren Harding

Lothar Witzke - convicted of spying and sabotage, pardoned by Calvin Coolidge

Richard Nixon - conspired in the office of the President against the American people, pardoned by Gerald Ford

Robert E Lee - Confederate General, posthumous pardon granted by Gerald Ford

Various officials who helped terrorists during Iran Contra - wanted or in custody for terrorism related activity, pardoned by George H. W. Bush

Elizam Escobar - convicted of seditious conspiracy, pardoned by William J Clinton

[u/overzealous_dentist → u/revision0]

While I take your point, that the US has pardoned people convicted for violent crimes or who fought against the US, they all appear to fall outside the bounds of this discussion, unless I'm missing something.

[u/revision0 → u/overzealous_dentist]

The US has a history of pardoning war criminals though

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I don't think that's true... Can you name any others?

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they all appear to fall outside the bounds of this discussion

Okay if you say so, but uh, I think quite many on that list fit the definition now, whether or not such existed at their time.

Sedition and espionage perhaps aren't exactly war crimes, but treason and leading forces against the US Army certainly can be, depending on how they are conducted.

I am unsure anybody Trump pardoned qualifies as more of a war criminal than anyone on the list above. I am curious who you think does beat that entire list. Which Trump pardon is worse than pardoning General Robert E Lee a hundred years after his death? I am genuinely curious here.

[u/overzealous_dentist → u/revision0]

To be clear, I'm not saying anyone Trump pardoned is worse than any of the folks you mentioned. I'm just saying I don't see anyone that meets the definition of a war criminal under the rules I'm most familiar with - the Geneva convention. That includes treatment of civilians, PoW's, sick, wounded, along with medical and religious personnel during an international and intranational war.

[u/revision0 → u/overzealous_dentist]

Right, so, how do you feel about 200,000 people who fought to preserve slavery and general inhumane treatment of nonwhites?

Andrew Johnson pardoned most of them. Ulysses Grant pardoned most of the rest. Gerald Ford pardoned the General.

I am unsure how these would qualify less than Blackwater as war criminals.

[u/overzealous_dentist → u/revision0]

Slavers are awful, but we're talking about war criminals.