Presidential Strategy and the Veto Power: A Reappraisal

Abstract

For what at first look like very good reasons, the presidential veto has received little scholarly attention in recent years. ' Any examination of the list of vetoes cast reveals little beyond the seemingly obvious. (See Table 1.) Apart from Franklin D. Roosevelt's prolific use of the instrument, the reasons for frequent use by other presidents apparently can be quickly explained. Grover Cleveland was one of the few post-Civil War presidents intent on challenging congressional dominance. Harry Truman faced a hostile Republican Congress for two years and had to operate in a generally difficult political environment for the duration of his presidency. After 1954, Dwight Eisenhower had to work with an increasingly Democratic Congress. The effective Democratic hegemony of the 1960s was replaced by the combative early-mid 1970s, when Republican presidents and Democratic Congresses were frequently at loggerheads. The use of the veto increased correspondingly. With the return of a Democratic president in 1977, the instrument