I found this post by Ian Bremmer interesting.

If you’re not familiar with Bremmer, he heads up the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. 

Ian’s post makes an interesting comparison between the current and past U.S. presidents and their use of official presidential pardons.  

Thinking in terms of what motivates a presidential pardon, I wonder if there are generalizable narratives that might explain why some U.S. The President’s issue pardon in large numbers and others not so much. All U.S. Presidents encounter contentious battles. Perhaps presidential pardons are one of many tools employed in an effort to build cohesive unity across our Republic.