On this day in history, January 21, 1977, President Carter pardons Vietnam War draft dodgers

[malaise]

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/day-history-january-21-1977-050245945.html

President Jimmy Carter granted an unconditional and controversial pardon to the many thousands of men who dodged the U.S. military draft during the Vietnam War on this day in history, Jan. 21, 1977.

Ahead of the 1976 presidential election, then-candidate Carter promised to pardon those who evaded the draft as a way to close the nation's book on Vietnam.

The day after his inauguration, Carter kept his word — and pardoned draft dodgers who had not committed violent offenses

[JohnnyRingo]

1. That was important for those who sought exile in Canada

They weren't allowed back after the war because they would have faced charges and likely prison. Not everyone could afford a doctor to cover them.
Carter reunited a good number of families. "Draft resisters" was the preferred term.

[malaise]

2. Indeed

Carter kept his problem.

[former9thward]

3. Ford pardoned draft dodgers in 1974.

But they had to work in public service for two years (teachers, etc.) to fulfill the conditions of the pardon. Carter removed the public service requirement.

https://archive.nytimes.com/learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/sept-16-1974-conditional-amnesty-for-vietnam-draft-dodgers-and-military-deserters/

[malaise]

4. Did Ford add conditions to his pardoning

for the criminal Nixon?

[former9thward]

5. No.

Are you opposed to public service?

[malaise]

6. No

But it still was a conditional pardon

[former9thward]

7. Yes, that is what I posted.

So what? They broke the law and had no prison penalty. A good friend of mine went to prison for three years for draft resistance. His "pardon" came too late other than cleaning his record.

[Voltaire2]

9. I forgot how many years of public service Nixon had to do for his pardon.

Was it zero years? Zero-zero years? Or zero-zero-zero years?

[former9thward]

11. What Nixon has to do with the OP I don't know.

[Voltaire2]

12. You appear to think that pardons ought to come with conditions like 'community service' .

Ford handed out these two pardons, one to Nixon that was a blanket pardon with zero conditions for any crimes he might have committed. The other one was to some people who resisted the draft, did not clear the charges from their records, and required two years of community service. You appeared to find the conditions entirely acceptable. I'm just wondering why it wasn't unacceptable that Nixon had no such conditions.

[former9thward]

13. Carter's pardon had conditions also.

He said the pardon would not apply to deserters. Was that a problem for you?

All presidents issue pardons. All have issued some pardons with conditions such as clemency or amnesty but not a full pardon. Is that a problem for you? Or just the Ford pardon?

If you are convicted of a crime and someone offers a pardon with conditions it is certainly better than nothing. But it seems that for some the perfect is the enemy of the good. And I am not against public service as some here seem to be.

[JohnnyRingo]

8. Ford granted clemency, not a full pardon

The real difference there, besides the punishment, was that the "crime" remained on their record until Carter offered a pardon.

[former9thward]

10. Yes, the Ford clemency was exactly the same as what Truman did in 1947 for WW II draft evaders.