Woodrow Wilson had some clamorous suffragists arrested outside the White House, a move that created so much sympathy for their cause that he later pardoned them. And Calvin Coolidge found himself involved in a strange case a few years later. A convicted bank robber, in Prof. Ruckman's telling, escaped from federal prison and killed a police officer in Connecticut. The state sought to execute him, but the killer claimed this violated his constitutional rights and demanded to first serve out his 25-year federal term. So Coolidge commuted the prisoner's federal sentence and Connecticut hanged him.
Presidents often attempt to set conditions on their pardons.
Black nationalist Marcus Garvey was pardoned on condition that he leave the country. Another felon was pardoned providing he not carry a gun. Another agreed to give up drinking. William Howard Taft pardoned two prisoners after being advised that they were near death, only to watch one former felon live merrily on. Six presidents pardoned felons who had attempted to assassinate one of their predecessors.