Gerald Ford's presidential pardon of Nixon is still divisive to this day, with some viewing making an unpopular pardon for the sake of letting the country heal as politically courageous, and others seeing excusing his predecessor's crimes as politically cowardly. But there doesn't seem to be as much debate, or even mention, of George HW Bush giving a blanket pardon to everyone involved in the Iran Contra affair (which may or may not have included Bush himself). How did that get mostly forgotten, given Iran Contra involved treason and was pretty serious at the time?
It is not looked at in the same light as Ford's pardon of Nixon because Bush never pardoned Reagan. President George H.W. Bush pardoned, at the end of his term in the White House, six former administration officials involved in Iran-Contra. The six officials were: Elliot Abrams, Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers, Clair George, Robert McFarlane and Caspar Weinberger (note: Weinberger had been indicted but had not yet gone to trial, all the others had been convicted mostly for perjury, withholding information, false statements or obstruction of justice).
Richard Nixon was pardoned by President Ford to prevent an indictment and trial after he resigned from the Presidency. He was given a full and unconditional pardon before he could be indicted for the Watergate Scandal. Nixon initially did not want to accept the pardon and there was significant negotiation between Ford's representatives and Nixon over the wording of the pardon. It is important to note that accepting a pardon is admitting guilt. Donald Rumsfeld's recent book "When the Center Held" has a good first person retelling of the decision making involved with the pardon of Nixon and the negotiations to get Nixon to accept the pardon.
which may or may not have included Bush himself
Follow-up question: Has anyone ever given serious credence to the notion that this constitutes precedent for a President pardoning themselves?