Gerald Ford's pardon to IVA toguri d'aquino
Iva Toguri D’Aquino left America to go take care of a sick relative in Japan. During World War II, D’Aquino became a broadcaster for Radio Tokyo on the Zero Hour program, which was supposed to be aimed at lowering the morale of U.S. troops. She was persuaded to broadcast for Radio Tokyo by American POW’s who planned to undermine the Japanese propaganda effort. D’Aquino broadcasted propaganda statements and popular American music under the name “Orphan Ann.” The broadcast did no harm as it actually raised the morale of troops. Several troops liked listening to the music on the show. Because of the press, D’Aquino was falsely identified as “Tokyo Rose,” a name given to women who made propaganda broadcasts to demoralize American soldiers. When hearing of this, U.S. officials arrested her. In 1949, Iva Toguri D’Aquino was arrested for treason, based off of a witness claim. D’Aquino served about six years in prison. It was later discovered that the witness in the case had lied about D’Aquino saying treasonous words. Gerald Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D’Aquino on January 19th, 1977. This case clearly shows that the right to pardon was used responsibly because President Ford corrected a judicial error that lead a innocent women to be thrown in jail.