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Keywords

U.S. Supreme Court case, presidential veto, Bank Veto Message, Bank Recharter Bill, Taney Court, constitutional history, legal text, jurisprudence of states' rights, implied federal powers

Abstract

On July 10, 1832, President Andrew Jackson issued the most famous and controversial veto in United States history. The bill in question was “to modify and continue” the 1816 “act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States. This was to recharter of the Second Bank of the United States whose constitutionality was famously upheld in McCulloch v. Maryland. The bill was passed by Congress and presented to Jackson on July 4. Six days later, Jackson vetoed the bill. Jackson’s veto mortally wounded the Second Bank, which would forever close its doors four years later at the expiration of its original 20-year charter in 1836. The veto launched Jackson’s 1832 presidential campaign, symbolized his boldness – the Bank’s supporters believed the veto would be sufficiently unpopular as to cost Jackson the election – and created the signature issue of his second term, as he dismantled the Bank’s role as financier to the federal government.

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