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

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