WASHINGTON -- By Thanksgiving, President Obama will have pardoned eight turkeys during his term in office -- just more than a third the number of humans he has pardoned, 22.
With the president scheduled to conduct the annual Thanksgiving pardoning of two turkeys Wednesday afternoon, news organizations are drawing comparisons to other kinds of pardons.
NPR News cited one study comparing recent presidents on number of pardons granted in relation to those rejected:
Ronald Reagan: 1 in 8
George H.W. Bush: 1 in 19
Bill Clinton: 1 in 16
George W. Bush: 1 in 55
Barack Obama: 1 in 290
Said White House spokesman Matt Lehrich: "President Obama takes his constitutional power to grant clemency very seriously, and each recommendation received from the Department of Justice is carefully reviewed and evaluated on the merits."