Jeffrey Toobin — The Pardon: Nixon, Ford and the Politics of Presidential Mercy

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 also introduces you to 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 even by former critics. Toobin anticipates the next turn in the debate by arguing that Ford's pardon was a disaster--an unwise gift to an undeserving recipient, and one that creates an unsettling precedent that is likely to be tested by the next occupant of the Oval Office.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.PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781668084946?ic_referral=VPNWjfG3RimdJsWf7q0LD6-S21LwUnJoIu38gwM2dHQwM3pOwno_WOGq5LXNK8k5UUWk9VBbpg9x3xQ7jxWPKXnS8LNP53qyuq8KOL_POUNhZrnPR4rA0IbktpOwyhg4NLSSiQJeffrey 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.