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Fact check: How many times has Congress overridden a presidential veto in US history?
Executive Summary
Congress has overridden a presidential veto between 111 and 112 times in U.S. history according to major compilations, with the authoritative Senate tally listing 112 overrides out of 2,597 vetoes (the discrepancy to older counts reflects differences in what is tabulated). Counts vary across sources because some tallies exclude pocket vetoes, post-World War II updates, or use different cutoffs; contemporary databases updated into 2025 corroborate the higher figure while earlier media pieces cited 111 or lower figures based on older snapshots [1] [2].
1. Why the totals differ — a numbers story that matters
Different outlets report different totals because they apply different inclusion rules and cut-off dates when counting veto overrides. The U.S. Senate table compiled historically lists 112 overrides and tallies total vetoes in ways that include regular and certain bill types [1]. By contrast, some academic treatments have quoted lower percentages or smaller absolute override totals—one source calculated 106 overrides when considering only "regular vetoes" in a particular dataset [3]. These methodological choices—whether to count pocket vetoes, contemporaneous corrections, or later Senate adjustments—drive the gap between 106, 111, and 112 in public reporting.
2. Authoritative government compilations point toward 112 overrides
The most directly relevant official compilation, the Senate’s historical table of vetoes, lists 112 instances of Congress successfully overriding a presidential veto, and records Andrew Johnson as the president with the most overrides at 15 [1]. This government-curated dataset is periodically updated and is designed to be exhaustive for legislative veto actions; it therefore serves as the closest primary reference for a definitive count. Reliance on the Senate roll-up reduces reliance on secondary calculations that may treat similar events differently.
3. Media snapshots capture evolving totals and context
Major media outlets have reported slightly different numbers as of various dates: for example, CBS News cited 111 overrides in a 2019 report and used that figure to contextualize presidents with the most overridden vetoes [2]. The discrepancy between CBS’s 2019 number and the Senate’s 112 likely reflects a new override or retroactive adjustment between the two compilations or differing treatment of specific veto events. Media pieces tend to summarize for a general audience and therefore may not always align with evolving official logs; that editorial framing can create apparent conflict between authoritative rolls and press accounts.
4. Recent events and the importance of precise dating
Individual high-profile overrides, such as the January 1, 2021 override of President Trump’s veto, are often referenced in press accounts and can shift headline counts if a dataset was last updated before or after that action [4] [5]. The Congressional votes database and GovTrack updates into October 2025 provide tools to track later overrides, illustrating how the tally can change and why a reader should check the date stamp on any statistic [6]. Temporal context matters: counts are snapshots that can diverge until reconciled in an authoritative historical ledger.
5. Who’s most affected by the numbers — presidents and politics
The pattern of overrides shows historical clustering: Andrew Johnson stands out with 15 overridden vetoes, and mid-20th-century presidents like Truman and Ford appear near the top of previous lists depending on count methodology [1] [2]. These tallies often serve political narratives—overrides can be framed either as a check on executive overreach or as partisan congressional triumphs—so reporting choices about which vetoes to include can subtly support different interpretations. Awareness of these narrative drivers helps readers evaluate cited totals and their deployment in political argumentation.
6. Reconciling the best single answer for readers now
Given the available compilations and more recent database updates, the most defensible single-number answer today is 112 overrides, as shown in the U.S. Senate historical tally and corroborated by later tabulations [1]. If a source cites 111 or 106, that difference likely arises from an earlier publication date or narrower inclusion rules [2] [3]. Readers seeking absolute confirmation should consult the Senate’s “Vetoes, 1789 to Present” table and the GovTrack/Congressional votes archives with their time-stamped entries to reconcile any remaining discrepancies [1] [6].
7. Bottom line and how to verify going forward
The definitive route to verification is to check the Senate’s compiled table and the roll-call records in the Congressional votes database, paying attention to the publication date and whether pocket vetoes or other special cases are included [1] [6]. For quick reference, use the Senate count of 112 overrides as the working answer, but treat any single-number claim with scrutiny if its source does not show methodology or a date stamp—numbers in institutional history are only as good as their documented criteria [1] [2].