The Presidency by the Numbers: Orders, Vetoes, and Pardons
Key takeaways
- Forty-five people have served in 47 presidencies, because Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump served nonconsecutive terms.
- Franklin Roosevelt signed the most executive orders, more than 3,700. Donald Trump signed 228 in the first year of his second term, more than in his entire first term.
- Presidents have vetoed about 2,600 bills, and Congress has overridden only about 4 percent of them.
- Joe Biden granted a record of about 4,245 acts of clemency, mostly commutations, and Donald Trump granted roughly 1,600 in the first year of his second term, including about 1,500 tied to January 6.
- Recent Presidents each appointed about 230 to 330 life-tenured federal judges per term or presidency, and the President fills about 4,000 political positions.
- The President earns 400,000 dollars a year, a salary unchanged since 2001.
Numbers can show how Presidents have used their powers, though they can also mislead: a single executive order may matter more than a hundred others, and counts depend on how terms are defined. This guide gathers the most-asked counts without ranking Presidents as better or worse.
Figures come from the Federal Register, the Senate, the Justice Department, and research groups, and are current to late 2026 where noted.
Executive orders are numbered and published in the Federal Register. Franklin Roosevelt signed about 3,721, the most by far, followed by Harry Truman with 907 and Dwight Eisenhower with 484. Recent Presidents signed fewer: about 364 for Bill Clinton, 291 for George W. Bush, 276 for Barack Obama, 220 for Donald Trump in his first term, and 162 for Joe Biden. In the first year of his second term, through January 20, 2026, Trump signed 228, including 143 in his first 100 days. Counts leave out memorandums and proclamations, which Presidents also use to direct policy.
The President fills about 4,000 political positions, about 1,300 of them requiring Senate confirmation. Recent Presidents appointed roughly 230 to 330 life-tenured federal judges per presidency: Donald Trump 234 in his first term, Joe Biden 235, Barack Obama 329 over two terms, and George W. Bush 326. Trump had appointed 56 more by October 1, 2026, in his second term, fewer than average for that point because fewer seats were open. Presidents also nominate about 190 ambassadors, and in 2026 more than half of ambassador posts were vacant.
Franklin Roosevelt granted the most clemency over his long presidency, about 3,700 acts. In single terms, Joe Biden set a record with about 4,245 acts of clemency, most of them commutations of drug sentences, plus broad preemptive pardons at the end of his term. Barack Obama granted 1,927, mostly commutations, and Donald Trump about 240 in his first term. In the first year of his second term Trump granted roughly 1,600 pardons and commutations, including about 1,500 to people charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Most clemency is reviewed by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, though Presidents can bypass it.
The President's salary is 400,000 dollars a year, set in 2001, plus a 50,000 dollar expense allowance and travel and entertainment funds. Former Presidents receive a pension equal to a Cabinet secretary's salary. The Executive Office of the President employs roughly 1,800 to 2,000 people, about 400 to 500 of them in the White House Office. Travel, security, and the presidential aircraft add hundreds of millions of dollars a year that do not appear in the White House budget. The numbers measure activity, not success, and scholars caution against judging Presidents by counts alone.
Presidents have vetoed about 2,600 bills since 1789, and Congress has overridden only about 112, roughly 4 percent. Franklin Roosevelt vetoed 635 bills and Grover Cleveland 584 across his two terms, while seven Presidents vetoed none. Recent Presidents vetoed few bills because Congress rarely sends them bills they oppose: 12 for George W. Bush, 4 overridden, 12 for Barack Obama, 1 overridden, 10 for Donald Trump in his first term, 1 overridden, and 13 for Joe Biden, none overridden. Trump issued his first two second-term vetoes at the end of 2025, on a Colorado water project and a Florida tribal land bill, and the House failed to override the first.
Forty-five people have held the office in 47 presidencies, since Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump each served two nonconsecutive terms. Franklin Roosevelt served longest, just over 12 years, before the Twenty-second Amendment limited Presidents to two elected terms, and William Henry Harrison served shortest, 31 days. Eight Presidents died in office, four of them assassinated. John Kennedy was the youngest elected, at 43, Theodore Roosevelt the youngest to serve, at 42, and Donald Trump the oldest inaugurated, at 78 in 2025.
See how these powers work in presidential powers explained, executive orders explained, and pardons explained.