WASHINGTON  For the first time since taking office nearly two years ago, President Obama exercised his clemency powers on Friday by granting pardons to nine people.

For the most part, the cases were for small-scale offenses committed many years ago. Six of the nine people had served only probation for their convictions.

“The president was moved by the strength of the applicants’ postconviction efforts at atonement, as well as their superior citizenship and individual achievements in the years since their convictions,” said Reid Cherlin, a White House spokesman.

All nine had applied for pardons through the normal review process at the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, which had recommended that the president grant clemency in each case, the department said.