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Image for event: An Evening with Jeffrey Toobin

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An Evening with Jeffrey Toobin

Author of The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy

2025-03-19 18:30:00 2025-03-19 20:00:00 America/Chicago An Evening with Jeffrey Toobin Join us on Wednesday, March 19, for a conversation with Jeffrey Toobin, author of <i>The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy</i>. The book talk will be moderated by Dr. Jay Barth, Director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. Ron Robinson Theater -

Wednesday, March 19
6:30pm - 8:00pm

Add to Calendar 2025-03-19 18:30:00 2025-03-19 20:00:00 America/Chicago An Evening with Jeffrey Toobin Join us on Wednesday, March 19, for a conversation with Jeffrey Toobin, author of <i>The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy</i>. The book talk will be moderated by Dr. Jay Barth, Director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. Ron Robinson Theater -

Join us on Wednesday, March 19, for a conversation with Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy. The book talk will be moderated by Dr. Jay Barth, Director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.


Jeffrey Toobin, the longtime CNN legal commentator, is the author of ten books, including The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, The Run of His Life: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism, American Heiress, The Oath, Too Close to Call, and A Vast Conspiracy. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, he lives with his family in New York.

  • “A splendid narrative about political power and mercy.” —David Grann, #1 best-selling author of The Wager

The power of the presidential pardon has our national attention now more than ever before. In The Pardon, New York Times bestselling author and CNN legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin provides a timely and compelling narrative of the most controversial presidential pardon in American history—Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon, revealing the profound implications for our current political landscape, and how it is already affecting the legacies of both Presidents Biden and Trump.

In this deeply reported book, Toobin explores why the Founding Fathers gave the power of pardon to the President and recreates the behind-the-scenes political melodrama during the tumultuous period around Nixon’s resignation. The story features a rich cast of characters, including Alexander Haig, Nixon’s last chief of staff, who pushed for the pardon, and a young Justice Department lawyer named Antonin Scalia, who provided the legal justification.

Ford’s shocking decision to pardon Nixon was widely criticized at the time, yet it has since been reevaluated as a healing gesture for a divided country. But Toobin argues that Ford’s pardon was an unwise gift to an undeserving recipient and an unsettling political precedent. The Pardon explores those that followed: Jimmy Carter’s amnesty for Vietnam draft resisters, Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, and the extraordinary story of Trump’s unprecedented pardons at the end of his first term.

The Pardon is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, the complex dynamics of power within the highest office in the nation, and the implications of presidential mercy.

Doors open at 5:30PM. Program begins at 6:30PM. An Audience Q&A and Book signing will follow.

Copies of the book will be available at the event and sold by WordsWorth Books.
This event is co-sponsored by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum.

Ron Robinson Theater

Phone: 501.320.5715

Hours

Ron Robinson Theater

Today's hours

We're open 9:00AM to 5:30PM


Address
100 River Market Avenue
Little Rock, AR 72201
Tel: 501.320.5715

About the branch

The Ron Robinson Theater is a 315-seat multi-purpose event venue. Part of the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Main Library campus, it is designed to provide programs for all ages including films, music performances, plays, readings, lectures, speakers, and children’s activities. The theater is equipped with a state-of-the-art DCI-compliant Barco digital cinema projection system and 32′ wide retractable screen; and, a versatile sound system capable of Dolby 5.1 surround audio for movies, with a CL3 digital mixing console with ample inputs for traditional music concerts.

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Tue, Sep 23, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
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Sat, Sep 27, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
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Sat, Sep 27, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
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Wed, Oct 01, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
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PRESENTER: Dr. Carly Anne York & Jasmin Graham
BOOK: The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog: And Other Serious Discoveries of Silly Science & Sharks Don’t Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist

Wed, Oct 01, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
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PRESENTERS: Dr. Karida Brown & Dr. Eve L. Ewing
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Sat, Oct 04, 11:30am - 12:30pm
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Sun, Oct 05, 5:00pm - 8:30pm
Join us on Sunday, October 5, for An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt at the Ron Robinson Theater. This ticketed event will raise funds so the festival can continue providing free public programs in Central Arkansas. Moderated by Ashlei King.Register