Last Updated January 1, 2021
About this object In 1935, FDR came to the House Chamber to deliver his veto message in person. Article I, section 7 of the Constitution grants the President the authority to veto legislation passed by Congress. This authority is one of the most significant tools the President can employ to prevent the passage of legislation. Even the threat of a veto can bring about changes in the content of legislation long before the bill is ever presented to the President. The Constitution provides the President 10 days (excluding Sundays) to act on legislation or the legislation automatically becomes law. There are two types of vetoes: the “regular veto” and the “pocket veto.”The regular veto is a qualified negative veto. The President returns the unsigned legislation to the originating house of Congress within a 10 day period usually with a memorandum of disapproval or a “veto message.” Congress can override the President’s decision if it musters the necessary two–thirds vote of each house. President George Washington issued the first regular veto on April 5, 1792. The first successful congressional override occurred on March 3, 1845, when Congress overrode President John Tyler’s veto of S. 66.
The pocket veto is an absolute veto that cannot be overridden. The veto becomes effective when the President fails to sign a bill after Congress has adjourned and is unable to override the veto. The authority of the pocket veto is derived from the Constitution’s Article I, section 7, “the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case, it shall not be law.” Over time, Congress and the President have clashed over the use of the pocket veto, debating the term “adjournment.” The President has attempted to use the pocket veto during intra- and inter- session adjournments and Congress has denied this use of the veto. The Legislative Branch, backed by modern court rulings, asserts that the Executive Branch may only pocket veto legislation when Congress has adjourned sine die from a session. President James Madison was the first President to use the pocket veto in 1812.
| 1st-4th | George Washington | 2 | ..... | 2 | ..... |
| 5th-6th | John Adams | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |
| 7th-10th | Thomas Jefferson | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |
| 11th–14th | James Madison | 5 | 2 | 7 | ..... |
| 15th–18th | James Monroe | 1 | ..... | 1 | ..... |
| 19th–20th | John Quincy Adams | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |
| 21st–24th | Andrew Jackson | 5 | 7 | 12 | ..... |
| 25th–26th | Martin Van Buren | ..... | 1 | 1 | ..... |
| 27th | William Henry Harrison | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |
| 27th–28th | John Tyler | 6 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| 29th–30th | James K. Polk | 2 | 1 | 3 | ..... |
| 31st | Zachary Taylor | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |
| 31st–32nd | Millard Fillmore | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |
| 33rd–34th | Franklin Pierce | 9 | ..... | 9 | 5 |
| 35th–36th | James Buchanan | 4 | 3 | 7 | ..... |
| 37th–39th | Abraham Lincoln | 2 | 5 | 7 | ..... |
| 39th–40th | Andrew Johnson | 21 | 8 | 29 | 15 |
| 41st–44th | Ulysses S. Grant | 45 | 48 | 93 | 4 |
| 45th–46th | Rutherford B. Hayes | 12 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| 47th | James A. Garfield | ..... | ..... | ..... | ..... |
| 47th–48th | Chester A. Arthur | 4 | 8 | 12 | 1 |
| 49th–50th | Grover Cleveland | 304 | 110 | 414 | 2 |
| 51st–52nd | Benjamin Harrison | 19 | 25 | 44 | 1 |
| 53rd–54th | Grover Cleveland | 42 | 128 | 170 | 5 |
| 55th–57th | William McKinley | 6 | 36 | 42 | ..... |
| 57th–60th | Theodore Roosevelt | 42 | 40 | 82 | 1 |
| 61st–62nd | William H. Taft | 30 | 9 | 39 | 1 |
| 63rd–66th | Woodrow Wilson | 33 | 11 | 44 | 6 |
| 67th | Warren G. Harding | 5 | 1 | 6 | ..... |
| 68th–70th | Calvin Coolidge | 20 | 30 | 50 | 4 |
| 71st–72nd | Herbert C. Hoover | 21 | 16 | 37 | 3 |
| 73rd–79th | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 372 | 263 | 635 | 9 |
| 79th–82nd | Harry S. Truman | 180 | 70 | 250 | 12 |
| 83rd–86th | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 73 | 108 | 181 | 2 |
| 87th–88th | John F. Kennedy | 12 | 9 | 21 | ..... |
| 88th–90st | Lyndon B. Johnson | 16 | 14 | 30 | ..... |
| 91st–93rd | Richard M. Nixon | 26 | 17 | 43 | 7 |
| 93rd–94th | Gerald R. Ford | 48 | 18 | 66 | 12 |
| 95th–96th | James Earl Carter | 13 | 18 | 31 | 2 |
| 97th–100th | Ronald Reagan | 39 | 39 | 78 | 9 |
| 101st–102nd | George H. W. Bush1 | 29 | 15 | 44 | 1 |
| 103rd–106th | William J. Clinton2 | 36 | 1 | 37 | 2 |
| 107th–110th | George W. Bush3 | 12 | ..... | 12 | 4 |
| 111th–114th | Barack H. Obama4 | 12 | ..... | 12 | 1 |
| 115th–116th | Donald J. Trump | 10 | ..... | 10 | 1 |
| Total | 1518 | 1066 | 2584 | 112 |
When presidents sign a bill into law they sometimes issue signing statements. Most of these signing statements comment on the bill or discuss the need for the bill. Additionally, they can discuss how the President interprets the language of the bill, intends to execute the bill, or gives guidance to the executive branch personnel that will execute the law.
Signing statements have been in existence since the early 19th century, and have indicated conflicts between the Executive and Legislative branches, however, they originally were rare occurrences. Since the Reagan Administration, the occurrences have become more frequent. Many administrations encouraged courts to use signing statements when interpreting the meaning of statutes, but courts have generally avoided using statements to interpret federal statutes.
Some signing statements have become controversial because presidents have used the signing statement as an opportunity to state that they will not enforce portions of a law that they consider unconstitutional. The Constitution mandates the Executive Branch, which is headed by the president, "to takes care that the laws be faithfully executed." (Article II, Section 3). This language is also known as the "Take Care Clause," and requires the President to enforce the laws passed by Congress. Traditionally, if a president does not agree with a law, either because he feels it is unconstitutional or ill-advised, he can veto it. It has also been argued that the President has taken an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend" the Constitution, and thus is required to veto a law that is unconstitutional. (Article II, Section 1). However, recent presidents have used signing statements to challenge certain provisions of a bill they signed into law, and in some cases, state that they would not enforce provisions of a bill that they find unconstitutional. The objections to provisions of laws is called the line item veto, and was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998 (Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417).
Many legal commentators, including the American Bar Association, have taken issue with the proliferation of singing statements, and the United States Congress has introduced legislation in an attempt to limit the use of Presidential Signing Statements. Singing statements are not part of the legislative process, and regardless of what is included in the signing statement, the bill, once signed, IS the law. Thus, it has been highly debated whether the signing statement is part of the legislative history. However, it is certain that signing statements give researchers insight into the executive support and enforcement a bill may receive.