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Presidential pardons are a provision of the US Constitution:*

The pardon power of the president is based on Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which provides: The President ... shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of impeachment. The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the provision to include the power to grant pardons, conditional pardons, commutations of sentence, conditional commutations of sentence, remissions of fines and forfeitures, respites and amnesties.Wikipedia

The Supreme Court has handed down some decisions related to the powers of pardon, but the power appears to be fairly broad.

Since both Biden and Trump seem bent on expanding pardon powers to the maximum extent allowed by the Constitution and the Court, it is important to determine exactly what power presidents have in this regard. Texts of pardons and their specific wording are carefully composed to adhere to both the Constitution and the Supreme Court's previous opinions on pardons.

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    Just going to add a note of context. One of the original arguments for giving the President the power to pardon was as a method to counter political persecution by opposition parties. It was one of the few monarchical power viewed as necessary.
    – David S
    Commented Dec 7 at 0:28
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    @DavidS Also worth noting that there were no direct appeals of criminal convictions in federal courts until the 1890s and the scope of habeas corpus review of criminal convictions was very narrow (the existence of a conviction by a court with jurisdiction was generally all that was probed). The need for the pardon power to correct errors in the court process was much greater for the first century of the current U.S. Constitution than it is now (and is reflected by much lower rates of pardon grants since direct appeals of federal criminal convictions became available).
    – ohwilleke ♦
    Commented 2 days ago
  • How about the pardon being given by a suspect in some of the crimes for which the pardon is given? It is credibly alleged that Hunter Biden was Jospeh Biden's stand-in for reception of money or other duties as part of Biden Sr.'s corrupt dealings (e.g. in Ukraine).
    – einpoklum
    Commented yesterday

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President Ford gave Nixon a full, absolute, and unconditional pardon for all crimes against the United States from January 20, 1969 to August 9, 1974. This covered the entirety of Nixon's presidency and spanned more than 5.5 years. Hunter's pardon differs only in that it covers roughly 11 years instead of roughly 5.5, and that he is a relative of the President (as opposed to having hand-picked him as his VP just weeks before). But the pardoning of relatives is no longer a new thing, as both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump have pardoned their relatives, and evidently long before them Abraham Lincoln pardoned his wife's half-sister.

As such the pardon is definitely not unprecedented. Though both are a significant departure from the norm, which you can find details about in Jeff Diver's answer.

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Pardons vary greatly based on the circumstances surrounding the offense. The exact text of Hunter Biden's pardon reads: Hunter Biden's Pardon

For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Pardon texts since 1969 (Nixon presidency)are available online from the Office of the Pardon Attorney.Clemency Recipients

Pardons have been customarily issued upon the recommendation of the Department of Justice, like so: Executive Grant of Clemancy

Batch Pardons for many individuals

AFTER CONSIDERING the applications for executive clemency of the following named persons and a letter from the Department ofJustice recommending executive clemency in each case, I hereby grant full and unconditional pardons to the following named persons for those offenses against the United States described in each such recommendation: JASON HERNANDEZ BEYERL Y HOLCY, AKA BEYERL Y CANTY JEFFREY ALAN LEWIS BOBBY DARRELL LOWERY JESSE MOSLEY, AKA JESSIE MOSLEY KATRINA POLK GLENN RAY ROYAL AKA GLENN RAY ROYAL, JR. ALEXIS SUTTON RICKY DONNELL TYLER AKA RICK TYLER STACYL. WILDER PILAR ALEJANDRA YELICIE-RODRIGUEZ I HEREBY DESIGNATE, direct, and empower the Pardon Attorney, as my representative, to sign each grant of clemency to the persons named herein. The Pardon Attorney shall declare that her action is the act of the President, being performed at my direction.

Sometimes they can be very detailed and contain specific provisions that allow them to be revoked under various circumstances, for example:

Example of specific provisions page 1

Specific provisions page 2

BE IT KNOWN, THAT THIS DAY, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PURSUANT TO MY POWERS UNDER ARTICLE II, SECTION 2, CLAUSE 1, OF THE CONSTITUTION, AFTER CONSIDERING THE APPLICATION FOR EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY, HAVE GRANTED UNTO VADIM KONOSHCHENOK A FULL PARDON FOR THOSE OFFENSES charged in indictments (Docket No. 1 :22-cr-00409-HG-5) filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on December 5, 2022 and May 22, 2023, for violations of (Count One): Sections 371 and 3551 et seq., Title 18, United States Code; (Count Fourteen): Sections 4819(a)(l), 4819(a)(2)(A)-(G), and 4819(b), Title 50, United States Code, and Sections 736.2(b)(I) and 746.8(a)(l), Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations; and (Count Fifteen): Sections 554(a), 2, and 3551 et seq., Title 18, United States Code. I CONDITION THE PARDON UPON THE FOLLOWING TERMS: (1) the said VADIM KONOSHCHENOK shall depart the United States; (2) the said VADIM KONOSHCHENOK shall thereafter remain outside the limits of the United States, its territories, and its possessions; (3) the said VADIM KONOSHCHENOK shall not commit any additional crime against the United States or in violation of the laws of the United States subsequent to the acceptance of this Pardon; (4) the said VADIM KoNOSHCHENOK shall waive and release any and all claims, demands, rights, and causes of action of whatsoever kind and nature against the United States of America, its agents, servants, and employees; (5) the said V ADIM KONOSHCHENOK shall waive any and all claims to funds or property already seized or subject to forfeiture as part of the prosecution of offenses subject to this Pardon; and (6) the said VADIM KONOSHCHENOK shall not accept or otherwise receive any financial benefit directly or indirectly, in any manner or amount, from any book, movie, or other publication or production, in any form or media, about the circumstances surrounding the instant charges or Pardon. IF AT ANY TIME the said VADIM KONOSHCHENOK violates any one or more of the aforementioned conditions, as determined by me in my complete discretion ( or by a future President in his or her complete discretion), this Pardon may be voided in its entirety.

As you can see from the examples above, Hunter Biden's pardon differs from these for its blanket coverage of incidents during the decade from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, as well as specific convictions for violation of law.

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    It's strange you bring up Nixon but not Ford's pardon of Nixon, which was similarly a blanket pardon of everything and covered many months. Hunter's pardon differs substantially from Nixon's only in the amount of time covered. And both Bill Clinton and Trump pardoned relatives, if you want to somehow go that route.
    – zibadawa timmy
    Commented Dec 6 at 21:29
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    Actually, make that many years: Jan 20 1969 to Aug 9 1974. More than 5.5 years, his entire presidency.
    – zibadawa timmy
    Commented Dec 6 at 21:37

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