Five Facts — Notable Presidential Vetoes
On March 14th, Senate Democrats and a handful of Republicans voted to overturn President Trump’s national emergency declaration; this marks the first time Congress has blocked such a measure. In response, President Trump issued the first veto of his presidency, noting that Congress’ resolution was both dangerous and reckless. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives failed to overturn the president’s veto. The fate of the national emergency will now be litigated in the nation’s courts system.
Here are five facts on notable presidential vetoes over the course of history:
1. According to the House of Representatives’ website, article I, section 7 of the Constitutions gives the president permission to veto Congressional legislation.
Because this can prevent Congress from passing laws, the ability to veto is one of the most powerful tools a president has. The Constitution outlines that a president has 10 days (excluding Sundays) to veto legislation; otherwise, it becomes law automatically. However, Congress has the ability to override a veto if it has a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate.
2. None of the presidents who issued the most vetoes have been in office in more than half a century. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the most vetoes during his tenure (635), followed by Grover Cleveland (584), Harry Truman (250), Dwight D. Eisenhower (181), and Ulysses S. Grant (93). The Washington Post reports that by the end of President Roosevelt’s second term, the number of vetoes he issued already exceeded 30 percentof all presidential vetoes issued since George Washington was in office.
3. A number of consequential vetoes have been issued in recent times and have shaped the course of history. These vetoes include President Nixon vetoing universal childcare funded by the government, President Reagan vetoing putting sanctions on South Africa’s government during apartheid, President Clinton vetoing the permissibility of certain abortion procedures later in pregnancy, and President Bush vetoing lifting funding restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
4. There have also been notable instances when a president has vetoed a bill and Congress then voted to override it. In 2016, Congress rejected President Obama’s veto that would have prevented relatives of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia. President Obama said he vetoed the bill because he believed it set a dangerous precedent. And in 2008, Congress overrode President Bush’s veto that would keep doctors’ payments from being reduced more than 10 percent.
5. It’s important to note there are a number of presidents that never vetoed a single bill while in office. These presidents include John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Q. Adams, William Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and James Garfield. Other presidents, like James Monroe and Martin Van Buren, only issued one.
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