Presidential Veto Leaderboard

One of the main principles of the U.S. Constitution is separation of powers. Each branch of government, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, can serve as check on the other, preventing excessive power in any one branch. One major aspect of separation of powers is the Presidential Veto. For a law to go into effect, Congress must pass the bill, and then the President must sign it. If the President vetoes the bill (does not sign it into law), it takes a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to override the President and pass the bill.

There have been over 2,500 vetoes in our history. Four Presidents accounted for over 1,600 (63%) of those vetoes.

Presidents with Most Vetoes

This chart shows the Presidents who vetoed the most bills. At the top of the list, Grover Cleveland and FDR. Both vetoed 100’s of ‘private bills.’*

Congressional Record - FDR Veto of private bill

Here is one example, among hundreds, shown in the nearby image. The person noted in this bill wanted a Veteran’s pension, however he was a deserter. I wonder how he got Congress to pass a bill awarding him a pension, but he did. FDR vetoed the bill as shown in the Congressional Record.

Most of the private bills vetoed by Cleveland related to Civil War service.

Previous editions of the veto series have covered Grover Cleveland, U.S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, and Calvin Coolidge. We will cover the other Presidents in future articles.

Presidents with the Most Vetoes Overridden

This chart displays the Presidents who had the most Vetoes overridden by Congress:

As discussed in a previous post, Andrew Johnson fought with the Republican Congress over post Civil War reconstruction, resulting in many veto overrides. As shown in the above chart, over 50% of his vetoes were overridden by Congress.

Veto Trend

Vetoes by President are shown in the chart below:

The number of Presidential vetoes has declined since the 1950’s. I have heard several possible explanations. One is that Presidents are more aggressive in working with Congress to ensure that bills they would veto are never passed in the first place. Another is that ‘omnibus’ legislation is becoming more prevalent – meaning one large bill covering many different concepts, makes it harder for the President to veto the entire bill. Finally, Presidents have used ‘signing statements’ when signing bills. These are issued as part of the President approving a bill and, in some cases, dictate how the administration intends to enforce or implement the law. And, in some cases, disagreeing with parts of the law. In lieu of vetoing a bill, the President instead issues a signing statement contesting parts of the law. Some critics argue that the proper presidential action is either to veto the legislation or to “faithfully execute” the laws.

For example, in March 2009, early in his Presidency, President Obama issued a signing statement when signing the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. You can view the full statement here. He says that portions of the bill are unconstitutional. Therefore he will ignore them: “Certain provisions of the bill…would unduly interfere with my constitutional authority in the area of foreign affairs by effectively directing the Executive on how to proceed or not proceed in negotiations or discussions with international organizations and foreign governments. I will not treat these provisions as limiting my ability to negotiate and enter into agreements with foreign nations.”

Obama also disagreed with a provision on United Nations peacekeeping missions: “[the bill] prohibits the use of certain funds for the use of the Armed Forces in United Nations peacekeeping missions under the command or operational control of a foreign national unless my military advisers have recommended to me that such involvement is in the national interests of the United States. This provision raises constitutional concerns by constraining my choice of particular persons to perform specific command functions in military missions, by conditioning the exercise of my authority as Commander in Chief on the recommendations of subordinates within the military chain of command, and by constraining my diplomatic negotiating authority. Accordingly, I will apply this provision consistent with my constitutional authority and responsibilities.”

The use of signing statements dates back to President John Monroe in 1822, but was relatively rare. Recently it was been widely used by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump. As of April 2021, President Biden has not issued any signing statements.

(Veto Series, to be continued)

* Private Bills or laws that relate to a single individual. For example, after the Civil War, the United States awarded pensions to disabled veterans and widows and their children. If a person felt they were not receiving the proper pension, they would appeal to their Congressman to pass a private law on their behalf. Presidents vetoed many of these since the relief request was improper.