veto

Examples of veto in the following topics:

• The Radical Record

  • In January 1866, Congress renewed the Freedmen's Bureau, which Johnson vetoed in February.
  • An attempt to override the veto failed on February 20, 1866.
  • This veto shocked the congressional Radicals.
  • However, the Republicans in Congress overrode his veto.
  • The Senate overrode the veto by the close vote of 33:15, the House by 122:41.

• Cleveland and the Special Interests

  • Cleveland faced a Republican Senate and often resorted to using his veto powers.
  • He vetoed hundreds of private pension bills for American Civil War veterans, believing that if their pension requests had already been rejected by the Pensions Bureau, Congress should not attempt to override that decision.
  • When Congress, pressured by the Grand Army of the Republic passed a bill granting pensions for disabilities not caused by military service, Cleveland also vetoed that.
  • Cleveland used the veto far more often than any president up to that time.
  • After a drought ruined crops in several Texas counties, Congress appropriated $10,000 to purchase seed grain for farmers.Cleveland vetoed the expenditure, espousing his theory of limited government:

• Panic and Redemption

  • Many farmers and working men favored the bill, but Eastern bankers favored a veto because of their reliance on bonds and foreign investors.
  • On April 22, 1874, after evaluating his own reasons for wanting to sign the bill, Grant unexpectedly vetoed the bill against the popular election strategy of the Republican Party because he believed it would destroy the nation's credit.
  • Additionally, Eastern bankers vigorously lobbied Grant to veto the bill because of their reliance on bonds and foreign investors who did business in gold.
  • Grant, standing on a platform, is congratulated boisterously by an audience for vetoing the "Inflation Bill."

• State Constitutions

  • Strong governors with veto power over the legislature and substantial appointment authority
  • The new constitution substantially reduced universal white-male suffrage, gave the governor veto power and patronage appointment authority, and added to the unicameral legislature an upper house with substantial wealth qualifications.

• Partisan Cooperation and Conflict

  • Truman twice vetoed bills to lower income tax rates in 1947.
  • Although the initial vetoes were sustained, Congress overrode his veto of a tax cut bill in 1948.
  • For example, although Truman vetoed it, the Taft-Hartley Act significantly curtailed the power of the labor unions.

• English Administration of the Colonies

  • The governor had the power of absolute veto and could prorogue (i.e., delay) and dissolve the assembly at will.
  • Laws could be examined by the Board of Trade, which also held veto power of legislation.

• The Impeachment and Trial of Johnson

  • When Johnson began his first term as president, however, he unexpectedly proclaimed general amnesty for most former confederates, and vetoed legislation that extended civil rights and financial support for former slaves.
  • Congress was able to override only a few of his vetoes, setting the stage for a historic confrontation between Congress and the President.
  • When the President was slow to officially report ratifications of the Fourteenth Amendment by the new Southern legislatures, Congress passed a bill, again over his veto, requiring him to do so within ten days of receipt.

• The Battle over Reconstruction

  • Lincoln pocket-vetoed this bill.
  • In 1866, Johnson vetoed two important bills.
  • Over Johnson's vetoes, Congress passed three Reconstruction acts in 1867 which divided the southern states into five military districts under the control of the Union army.

• The Bank War and Economic Boom

  • When Congress voted to reauthorize the Bank, Jackson, as incumbent and candidate in the race, promptly vetoed the bill.
  • His veto message justifying his action was a polemical declaration of the social philosophy of the Jacksonian movement, pitting "farmers, mechanics and laborers" against the "rich and powerful" and arguing against the Bank's constitutionality.
  • He was viewed by Daniel Webster as a monarchical president because he used his presidential power to veto against the bank liberally.

• The Division and Separation of Power

  • The president exercises a check over Congress through his power to veto bills, but Congress may override any veto (excluding the so-called pocket veto) by a two-thirds majority in each house.