20070502 Presidential Vetoes from 1789 to present

Presidential Vetoes from 1789 to present

Information from: Office of the Clerk
U. S. House of Representatives
http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/vetoes.html

Presidential Vetoes

(1789 to Present) Since 1789, the President has had the authority to veto legislation passed by Congress. This authority is one of the significant tools in the President's legislative dealings with Congress. It is effective in directly preventing the passage of legislation undesirable to the President, and the threat of a veto can bring about changes in the content of legislation long before the bill is ever presented to the President. There are two types of vetoes available to the President. The "regular veto" is a qualified negative veto, which is limited by the ability of Congress to muster the necessary two-thirds vote of each House for constitutional override. The other type of veto is a "pocket veto." This veto is actually an absolute veto that cannot be overridden; it becomes effective when the President fails to sign a bill after Congress has adjourned and is unable to override the veto.

President Congresses Regular Vetoes Pocket Vetoes Total Vetoes Vetoes Overridden George Washington 1st- 4th 2 ..... 2 ..... John Adams 5th-6th ..... ..... ..... ..... Thomas Jefferson 7th-10th ..... ..... ..... ..... James Madison 11th-14th 5 2 7 ..... James Monroe 15th-18th 1 ..... 1 ..... John Quincy Adams 19th-20th ..... ..... ..... ..... Andrew Jackson 21st-24th 5 7 12 ..... Martin Van Buren 25th-26th ..... 1 1 ..... William Henry Harrison 27th ..... ..... ..... ..... John Tyler 27th-28th 6 4 10 1 James K. Polk 29th-30th 2 1 3 ..... Zachary Taylor 31st ..... ..... ..... ..... Millard Fillmore 31st-32nd ..... ..... ..... ..... Franklin Pierce 33rd-34th 9 ..... 9 5 James Buchanan 35th-36th 4 3 7 ..... Abraham Lincoln 37th-39th 2 5 7 ..... Andrew Johnson 39th-40th 21 8 29 15 Ulysses S. Grant 41st-44th 45 48 93 4 Rutherford B. Hayes 45th-46th 12 1 13 1 James A. Garfield 47th ..... ..... ..... ..... Chester A. Arthur 47th-48th 4 8 12 1 Grover Cleveland 49th-50th 304 110 414 2 Benjamin Harrison 51st-52nd 19 25 44 1 Grover Cleveland 53rd-54th 42 128 170 5 William McKinley 55th-57th 6 36 42 ..... Theodore Roosevelt 57th-60th 42 40 82 1 William H. Taft 61st-62nd 30 9 39 1 Woodrow Wilson 63rd-66th 33 11 44 6 Warren G. Harding 67th 5 1 6 ..... Calvin Coolidge 68th-70th 20 30 50 4 Herbert C. Hoover 71st-72nd 21 16 37 3 Franklin D. Roosevelt 73rd-79th 372 263 635 9 Harry S. Truman 79th-82nd 180 70 250 12 Dwight D. Eisenhower 83rd-86th 73 108 181 2 John F. Kennedy 87th-88th 12 9 21 ..... Lyndon B. Johnson 88th-90st 16 14 30 ..... Richard M. Nixon 91st-93rd 26 17 43 7 Gerald R. Ford 93rd-94th 48 18 66 12 James Earl Carter 95th-96th 13 18 31 2 Ronald Reagan 97th-100th 39 39 78 9 George Bush* 101th-102nd 29 15 44 1 William J. Clinton 103rd-106th 36 1 37 2 George W. Bush 107th-110th 2 ..... 2 ..... Total ............ 1486 1066 2552 106 * President Bush attempted to pocket veto two bills during intrasession recess periods. Congress considered the two bills enacted into law because of the President's failure to return the legislation. The bills are not counted as pocket vetoes in this table. Source: Congressional Research Service