I’m not sure what exactly Ford proved by pardoning Nixon. Would it have held up in court? If you consider the implications of a blanket presidential pardon, then it would be possible for the chief executive to create a whole cadre of immune criminals who would no longer have to obey any federal law or pay taxes. The idea seems preposterous on its face.
Hmm, so if Trump issued a blanket pardon then no American would have to pay federal taxes or worry about Federal law.
Seeing some possibilities here.
Ford’s pardon of Nixon was never challenged in court, and it was tacitly implied that if it was challenged, Ford would still be president for a few years and would just pardon Nixon for any convictions anyway, so the issue was left alone. In my opinion, a presidential blanket pardon isn’t ‘settled law’ at all, and the elephant in the room has just been ignored for forty years.