Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh allowed a midnight deadline to pass Thursday for asking the president to spare his life.

McVeigh, 32, is scheduled to die by lethal injection May 16 in the first execution by the federal government in 37 years.

Attorney Rob Nigh Jr. said that he had drafted a clemency petition in case McVeigh wanted to submit it.

Nigh and his other attorney, Nathan Chambers, discussed McVeigh's decision in simultaneous news conferences Friday morning in Denver and Oklahoma City.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons set the execution date after McVeigh dropped all appeals. Under federal rules, he had one month after the date was set to file a request for clemency.

The Gulf War veteran was convicted of murder and other charges in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people and injured more than 500 in the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

The government has received 250 requests from victims and relatives who want to watch McVeigh die, and is considering a closed-circuit television broadcast of the execution.

McVeigh, who is on death row at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., wrote in a letter published in the Sunday Oklahoman that his execution should be broadcast publicly.

He has given interviews to two reporters for The Buffalo (N.Y.) News who wrote a biography to be published in April.

For updates on Friday's news conferences watch 7News at 11 a.m. or check back here.

Discuss: Should McVeigh's Execution Be On Closed-Circuit TV?

Additional Resources:

• Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Web Site
• Death Penalty Info Center