The Ambivalent Embrace of Kingly Power: Executive Clemency in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Politics and Constitutional Thought

Abstract

The American Revolution did away with monarchical authority but preserved kingly pardoning power. Its chief federal architect, Alexander Hamilton, developed his thinking on the “true character of the executive” in New York State, which more than any other both inspired and followed federal political thought on the place of executive clemency in a republican democracy. By focusing on a controversial 1847 pardon, whereby the governor released 18 felons serving sentences for acts of anti-rent violence, this article examines the ambivalent embrace of kingly power in mid-nineteenth-century constitutional thought. The governor’s decision conveyed the taint of politics. However, it also resonated with the tenor of debate in antebellum America over executive discretion’s constitutionality. Despite growing criticism of the “one-man” power to pardon, its capacity to deliver justice within the bounds of constitutionally authorized executive discretion staved off calls for administrative reform, lessons that resurface on the contemporary political landscape.