National Affairs: Work Done & Undone

Harassed by its own problems, Congress had no patience at all with Harry Truman. Within four days, it thumpingly overrode three presidential vetoes—more reversals in a comparable period of time than any other President had ever suffered.†

The President had vetoed 1) the Reed-Bulwinkle bill, which exempts railroads from antitrust suits for rate agreements, provided the rates are approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission; 2) a bill which would remove 750,000 salesmen and "independent contractors" from social security; and 3) a Labor Department appropriation bill which contained a rider transferring the U.S. Employment...