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Historical comparison of veto overrides under previous presidents 2009-2020
Executive Summary
A focused review of the supplied analyses shows that presidential vetoes and congressional overrides between 2009 and 2020 were sparse: Barack Obama issued 11–12 regular vetoes with one successful override (the 2016 JASTA override), and the broader historical record indicates overrides are rare relative to total vetoes, typically a few percent to around 7% in some summaries. The materials provided include archival overviews of veto powers and counts, contemporary reporting on Obama's lone override in 2016, and institutional tallies that place U.S. vetoes and overrides in long‑run historical context [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. Why the 2016 Override Stands Out: The JASTA Moment That Broke Obama's Record
The most concrete, contemporaneous claim in the materials is that Congress overrode President Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) on September 28, 2016, producing a rare bipartisan supermajority in both houses and marking the only successful override of his presidency. NBC News reported the override with vote details and historical framing on that date, noting this was the principal instance during Obama’s two terms when Congress mustered the two‑thirds thresholds required to reverse a veto [3]. Ballotpedia and Senate historical tallies cited in the analyses corroborate that Obama issued roughly a dozen regular vetoes and that only this single veto was overturned, reinforcing the uniqueness of JASTA within the 2009–2017 window [4] [5]. The institutional sources emphasize the procedural difficulty of overrides, explaining why such events attract attention when they occur [6].
2. The Long View: Vetoes Rarely Overridden Across U.S. History
Institutional summaries assembled in the provided data underscore that overrides are historically rare: one summary reports 2,576 presidential vetoes since 1789 with 111 overrides (~4.3%), while other treatments cite a somewhat higher long‑run override rate near 7%, depending on counting conventions (regular vs. pocket vetoes) and source selection [1] [2]. The House and Senate historical pages and congressional reference works describe how counting methodology—whether pocket vetoes are included, whether partial vetoes or line‑item practices are tallied—affects percentages and can produce divergent summary figures. These institutional sources frame the 2009–2020 period as consistent with a long‑term pattern in which Congress rarely attains two‑thirds majorities to override, making any successful override a noteworthy outlier [1] [7].
3. Comparing Presidents 2009–2020: Obama, Trump and the Preceding Administrations
The analyses supply comparative snapshots: Obama (2009–2017) issued 11–12 regular vetoes with one override; the materials also indicate that Donald Trump (2017–2021) issued about 10 regular vetoes with one override reported in institutional tallies, though these summaries stop at 2020 for the period in question [5]. For historical contrast, NBC’s reporting situates these counts against earlier presidencies—George W. Bush (12 vetoes, four overrides), Bill Clinton (36 vetoes, two overrides), and George H.W. Bush (29 vetoes, one override)—illustrating large variation in both veto usage and override success across administrations [3]. The disparate patterns reflect differences in congressional alignment, legislative agendas, and the political context that determine whether two‑thirds majorities form to override a president.
4. Methodological Caveats: Counting Choices and What They Hide
The source materials repeatedly warn that different datasets and counting rules produce different summary statistics, and that the choice to include pocket vetoes or to separate regular vetoes from attempted vetoes changes the numerator and denominator. Institutional counts reported in congressional history pages, congressional research reports, and secondary compilations can diverge; some summaries emphasize raw veto tallies since 1789 and compute a mean override rate (~4.3%), while narrative accounts sometimes reference a rounded ~7% figure depending on sample framing [1] [2]. Researchers comparing 2009–2020 must therefore be explicit about which veto types and which time‑frames they include, because small absolute counts in recent presidencies make percentages sensitive to these definitional choices [7].
5. Where the Evidence Agrees—and Where It Leaves Gaps
Across the provided analyses there is agreement that overrides are rare and that Obama experienced a single successful override in 2016, corroborated by contemporary reporting and institutional tallies [3] [4] [5]. Differences arise in long‑run percentages and in the exact tally of vetoes (11 vs. 12) because of counting conventions reported in the archival materials [5] [2]. The multiparty presidential study cited is not germane to U.S. comparisons but underscores how legislative fragmentation affects override probability in other systems; it does not supply new U.S. data for 2009–2020 [8]. For definitive, up‑to‑date counts and vote margins, the Senate and House historical pages and contemporary news reports remain the best primary references provided here [1] [3] [5].