Who was the 2nd president

During this period of transition between presidential administrations – when pardons are typically issued in large numbers – it is useful to see how another president used the pardon power afforded to him by the Constitution.

When considering pardon requests during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln typically sought to pursue justice as he understood it, regardless of a petitioner’s race, class, or sex.

In making his decisions, Lincoln strove to avoid getting swept up by the passions of the day. Indeed, some cases took great courage because they involved significant political risk. Reviewing death penalty cases even gave him headaches.

One of Lincoln’s earliest pardons involved a young soldier from Vermont named William Scott who fell asleep at his post near Washington, D.C., after two consecutive nights on guard duty in 1861.

For this crime, Scott was court-martialed and sentenced to be shot.

Army officers supported the d