Richard Reeves’s apologia brings to mind the poet Robert Lowel’s observation that “one has a thousand opportunities to misrevise. A little ground is gained for the more that is lost.”

Mr. Reeves had it right the first time he wrote on the subject of the pardon: The episode served to symbolize to the American public the ultimate escape route from the criminal justice system available to an imperial President bent on avoiding personal responsibility for his actions—if he could enlist the allegiance of his chosen successor. Thanks to Gerald Ford, the scheme worked.