The end of every presidential administration is interesting because of whom the commander in chief decides to pardonBush is a lame duck. His legacy is already written. With a little time historians will rate him, and he will be relegated to textbooks for future generations. The only thing left to decide is who he will and will not pardon.Presidential pardons have existed since the birth of the United States.Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states the president “shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.” Pardons are addressed to the president, who can then grant or deny the request following a review by Office of the Pardon Attorney, which is in the Department of Justice. The idea of offering a pardon frightened many citizens from the beginning of this country.Groups like the Anti-Federalists had seen abuses of royal power in Europe, and they believed this would take hold in the United States as well. Despite these fears, Alexander Hamilton, who went on to serve as the first Secretary of the Treasury, wrote an excellent defense in The Federalist Papers.For Louisianans, it is this authority — granted by the Constitution and defended by Hamilton — which remains important.Former Gov. Edwin Edwards spent the majority of his adult life serving the state of Louisiana. He began his public career as a councilman in Crowley and served the people of Louisiana as a congressman. His four terms as governor are as many as any has served in this state.But public life came to a screeching halt in 1998.Edwards and his son Stephen were convicted on 17 counts of racketeering, extortion, money laundering, mail fraud and wire fraud. Edwards even ended the sports career of the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr. DeBartolo admitted to paying the former governor $400,000 to help secure a gaming license in Louisiana.Today Edwards spends his days in Oakdale, Louisiana’s federal correctional institution as inmate #03128-095.Pardoning Edwards is not outside the realm of possibility. The history of presidential pardons is at times amusing and at others just flat wrong. One that is amusing and a little disturbing is President Lincoln’s pardon of Arthur O’Bryan. O’Bryan was convicted of attempted bestiality. He received his pardon because Lincoln approved of his character as a man. There is also the case of police Lieutenant Michael Mullen arrested on the eve of President Grover Cleveland’s election. Mullen arrested and held over 100 black citizens prisoner in Cincinnati. They were eventually released after the polls were closed. Mullen was sentenced to one year in prison for election fraud. He only served 8 months in large part because President Cleveland received a petition on his behalf which contained the signatures of many “first class citizens.” Two weeks after the pardon was granted, it was learned that at least one-third of the signatures were forged.Then, of course, there was Richard Nixon.Former President Gerald Ford’s pardon of Nixon remains one of the most controversial in American history. The pardoning of Nixon for his high crimes and misdemeanors is widely believed to be the reason Ford lost his bid for reelection in 1976. Ford always maintained it was the only way for the country to move forward in light of the Watergate scandal.Who can forget the Iran-Contra pardons?Former President George H. W. Bush pardoned the six most notable members of Reagan’s staff who were selling weapons to Iran to fund Nicaraguan Contra’s fighting against the government there.They were accused of perjury, withholding information from Congress, obstruction of justice and making false statements.Pardons have even been issued for former Louisiana politicians, so inmate #03128-095 has reason to hope.Former Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Gilbert Dozier received a pardon from President Reagan. Dozier demanded more than $300,000 in bribes from people seeking permits in Louisiana. Despite the objections of the sentencing judge and the U.S. attorney, Reagan commuted Dozier’s sentence.If former presidents, Democrat and Republican alike, can pardon everything from bestiality to withholding information from Congress, surely there is a pardon out there for Uncle Edwin.Edwards’ case is not as cut and dry as Commissioner Dozier’s. Former political rivals like Governor David Treene have defended Edwards and advocated his release. His protégé, Sen. John Breaux, has written letters advocating his release. Even President Bush’s father has written a letter on behalf of Edwards.That’s right, folks, former President George H.W. Bush wrote a letter to our current president’s parole board advocating the release of Edwards. And no one can blame him. Edwards has kept his promise to the people of our state when he was leaving for prison.He has been a model prisoner just like he was “a model citizen.”—-Contact Matt McEntire at [email protected]