The Prophets of Philadelphia: How the Framers Designed the Presidential Pardon to Protect Oligarchy

An Essay on the Eternal Function of Executive Clemency "Property was the main object of Society." — Gouverneur Morris, Constitutional Convention, 1787 In the summer of 1787, fifty-five of America's wealthiest men gathered in Philadelphia's State House to design a government that would protect what they had from those who had not. Among the powers they granted their new executive was the…