Jeffrey Toobin\, the longtime CNN legal co mmentator\, is the author of ten books\, including The Nine: Inside th e Secret World of the Supreme Court\, The Run of His Life: The Pe ople vs. O.J. Simpson\, Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise o f Right-Wing Extremism\, American Heiress\, The Oath\, Too Close to Call\, and A Vast Conspiracy. A magna c um laude graduate of Harvard Law School\, he lives with his family in New York.
\nThe power of the presidential pardon has our nat ional attention now more than ever before. In The Pardon\, New York Times bestselling author and CNN legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin provides a tim ely and compelling narrative of the most controversial presidential pardon in American history&mdash\;Gerald Ford&rsquo\;s pardon of Richard Nixon\, revealing the profound implications for our current political landscape\, and how it is already affecting the legacies of both Presidents Biden and Trump.
\nIn this deeply reported book\, Toobin explores why the Fou nding Fathers gave the power of pardon to the President and recreates the behind-the-scenes political melodrama during the tumultuous period around Nixon&rsquo\;s resignation. The story features a rich cast of characters\, including Alexander Haig\, Nixon&rsquo\;s last chief of staff\, who pushe d for the pardon\, and a young Justice Department lawyer named Antonin Sca lia\, who provided the legal justification.
\nFord&rsquo\;s shocking decision to pardon Nixon was widely criticized at the time\, yet it has s ince been reevaluated as a healing gesture for a divided country. But Toob in argues that Ford&rsquo\;s pardon was an unwise gift to an undeserving r ecipient and an unsettling political precedent. The Pardon explores those that followed: Jimmy Carter&rsquo\;s amnesty for Vietnam draft resisters\, Bill Clinton&rsquo\;s pardon of Marc Rich\, and the extraordinary story o f Trump&rsquo\;s unprecedented pardons at the end of his first term.
\nThe Pardon is a must-read for anyone interested in American hi story\, the complex dynamics of power within the highest office in the nat ion\, and the implications of presidential mercy.
\nDoors open at 5: 30PM. Program begins at 6:30PM. An Audience Q&\;A and Book signing will follow.
\nCopies of the book will be available at the event and sol
d by WordsWorth Books.
This event is co-sponsored by the William J. C
linton Presidential Library &\; Museum.