Joseph R. Biden Jr. granted on the order of a few thousand presidential pardons in total during his term, making him one of the most prolific users of the pardon power in U.S. history.

Biden’s total pardons

Analyses of Justice Department clemency statistics indicate that Biden issued several thousand acts of clemency overall, consisting mostly of commutations but also a substantial number of pardons. One breakdown attributes tens of hundreds of individual pardons to Biden—far above the total for most prior presidents, and driven in part by large group actions covering federal marijuana possession and other nonviolent offenses.

Context and uncertainty

Different sources sometimes report different figures because they may or may not count large “blanket” actions (such as a single proclamation that legally pardons thousands of people) as multiple pardons. Public reporting therefore converges on the conclusion that Biden granted several thousand pardons, but exact counts can vary depending on the methodology used to tally them.