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She was convicted under the Espionage Act and her sentence was well within the guidelines (considering a possible death sentence). That fact that she was acting as whistleblower rather than traitor certainly should have mitigated the sentence, as argued by Amnesty International et al.
Whilst Obama deserves plaudits for effectively saving her life, it'd be interesting to know if the US's real motivation is to get at Assange.
¡apesta!
@The_Seldom_Killer
The reason given is that, on release, Chelsea Manning is vulnerable both as a whistleblower, having been convicted of leaking documents and as a transgender woman with a publically documented history of suicide attempts. The time is needed in order to give the relevant authorities time to arrange a home and appropriate post release support.
Bear in mind that Manning will remain a convicted criminal upon release as this is commutation, not a pardon. One of the big issues was the length of sentence placed on Manning, which far exceeded that for any other person found guilty of leaking documents. The 7 full years handily ties into that.