Presidential Vetoes

History, Records

21 May 2008

In March 2006, President Bush set a 200-year record, becoming the most veto-less president since the early 1900s. The last President to exercise no veto was James Garfield, who held office only six months before being shot. (What is a veto?)

When Bush had been in office 1,889 days, he had signed 1,091 bills and vetoed zero. President Monroe vetoed his first bill on day 1,888, 4 May 1822. Neither Adams nor Jefferson exercised a veto; Garfield is the most recent president not to veto a measure.

However, in Jefferson and Adams day, Congress was a part-time legislative body and the number of bills introduced minuscule compared to day.

As a blunt instrument, the veto serves only to stop the advance of legislation. However, the threat of a veto can sometimes move Congress closer to the vision held by the Executive.

The Constitution does not explicitly grant the President the power to "veto" -- but Article 1, Section 7 implies this power:

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it.

Modern Presidential Vetoes

* The text of the 10th bill vetoed was not the text of the legislation as passed by Congress.

Source Christian Science Monitor and US Senate.