While controversy over presidential pardons has a long history — from George Washington absolving instigators of the Whiskey Rebellion in 1795 to Gerald Ford pardoning Richard M. Nixon after the Watergate scandal forced his resignation — few have used the constitutionally vested power to pardon family members.

The decision to issue a blanket pardon for his son Hunter will forever be a part of the president’s legacy. Across an extraordinary five decades in public life, with a long rise from the Senate to the Oval Office, his Sunday night declaration puts an exclamation point – and a question mark – on Biden’s tenure in a changing era of American politics.

President Joe Biden’s decision to go back on his word and pardon his son Hunter wasn't all that surprising to those who are familiar with the president's devotion to his family