THE ADMINISTRATION: The Fallout from Ford's Rush to Pardon

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wholesale pardons. All that had been meant, it was explained, was that individual requests for pardons would be considered in the customary manner when and if they arose. If that was true, neither Ford nor his aides had tried to make it clear earlier, and the confusion naturally raised suspicions that the blanket-pardon idea might have been floated as a trial balloon. It was promptly shot down by a new wave of protest, including an overwhelming (55 to 24) sense-of-the-Senate resolution that no further presidential pardons be given in any Watergate case until trials have been completed.

The only justification cited by the White House for raising the idea of more pardons was that Mrs. John Dean had suggested clemency for her imprisoned husband, Nixon's former counsel, who was one of the first Watergate conspirators to cooperate with investigators. But that too represented sloppy Ford staff work, since Mrs. Dean had not yet made any such official request. She had merely issued a statement protesting that all of the Watergate families had suffered along with the Nixons, and that Dean had been among those who had told the truth—"and that is something we have yet to hear from Mr. Nixon."

Later, the inside White House version was that Hushen had been hurriedly shoehorned in between other Ford appointments to ask how he should reply to any press questions about Mrs. Dean's statement. Believing that it involved a pardon request, Ford replied quickly: "Just say it's under consideration." Another aide suggested that this implied positive action, and Ford, again replying too quickly, added: "Okay, say 'under study,' and don't say any more." Hushen followed those instructions literally, and thus the initial misunderstanding arose. That does not, however, explain why it was not more quickly cleared up.

Issues Linked. Ford also appeared to be indecisive over the controversial question of a conditional amnesty for Viet Nam War service evaders. His staff first revealed last week that his announcement on the nature of his proposed leniency, which had been scheduled for Tuesday, had been postponed "indefinitely." The explanation was that Ford had not had time to complete his plans, which were turning out to be "more complex" than had been expected. The widespread assumption was that he did not want to create a new furor by applying stiff conditions to the war objectors' amnesty when he had just given Nixon a "full, free and absolute" pardon. Despite the vast differences between the two issues, they had become practically and politically linked. That fact of life was recognized by the White House in scheduling a Ford press conference for this week: Hushen suggested that questions on both the reasons for pardoning Nixon and Ford's amnesty plans would be welcomed.

That press conference can hardly occur too soon. It was Ford's failure to explain fully the timing of his pardon of Nixon that raised most doubts about Ford's candor and perceptiveness, as well as questions about the competence of his staff in handling a White House crisis. All last week, Ford had almost nothing to say publicly about his decision, beyond a stoic "I knew it would be controversial." His aides concede, however, that the magnitude of the uproar had not been anticipated. At first, Ford's