March 3, 1845: Congress overrode a presidential veto for the first time — an appropriations bill on John Tyler's last full day in office. It takes a two-thirds vote to override a presidential veto. Tyler had previously vetoed ten bills sent to him by Congress. The phrase "presidential veto" does not appear in the Constitution, by the way, but Article I requires that every bill, order, resolution, or other act of legislation by the Congress be presented to the president for his approval. The president can either sign it into law, return the bill to either the House or Senate with his objections to the bill (a veto), or neither sign nor return it to Congress after having been presented the bill for 10 days exempting Sundays (if Congress is still in session, the bill becomes a law; otherwise, the bill does not become a law and is considered a pocket veto).
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