The President's Veto Power

Richard A. Watson

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1988, vol. 499, issue 1, 36-46

Abstract: Drawing upon experiences with legislatively dominated government at the state and national levels in the post-Revolution period, the Founders granted the president the power to veto bills passed by Congress. An analysis of all vetoes cast by modern presidents in office from 1933 to 1981, beginning with Franklin Roosevelt and ending with Jimmy Carter, indicates that Roosevelt used the power most frequently. If, however, one focuses on public bills of national significance and takes into account the number of years each of these presidents served, Gerald Ford was the most significant vetoer of the period. Harry Truman vetoed more major bills than any of the other modern presidents and was also overridden most frequently by Congress on such bills. Most vetoed bills are eventually passed and signed by the president in a different form. The president can also affect legislation by threatening to veto proposed bills: such action may prevent their passage at all or may influence Congress to put them in a form that is acceptable to him.

Date: 1988
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:499:y:1988:i:1:p:36-46

DOI: 10.1177/0002716288499001003

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