Today this happened in the past
December 25, 1868, US President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Civil War.
President Johnson, the 17th president of the United States was an interesting fellow who assumed the office after the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865. Johnson was a Democrat as opposed to Lincoln, a Republican, and served in the Tennesse legislature, as a US Congressmen, and also became the governor of Tennessee. An interesting note about Johnson was that he was loyal to the Union even though he was a Southern Senator. He was also a great champion of States rights which made him an unusual politician at the time of the Southern Rebellion.
As president Johnson set out to unify the Union once again by granting amnesty to most of the Confederates and even allowing them to elect their own governments. These actions caused cause quite a stir with the Radical Republicans since many of the newly elected officials created new "black codes" meant to once again suppress the newly freed slaves. Congress refused to seat these newly Southen elected officials and this set the stage for the animosity between Johnson and Congress.
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