1934 Pen Used in Congress's First Override of an FDR Presidential Veto

An exceptional historical display preserving the actual fountain pen used by Secretary of the United States Senate Edwin A. Halsey when signing the Independent Offices Appropriation Bill after Congress overrode President Franklin D. Roosevelt's veto on March 28, 1934. It marked the first time during Roosevelt's presidency that Congress successfully overrode one of his vetoes.

The display includes Halsey's original signed presentation letter to William Collins, Superintendent of the Senate Press Gallery, together with a contemporary photograph of Halsey and the actual presentation pen housed beneath glass. The frame was produced by the United States Senate carpentry shop. 

Halsey's letter provides remarkable firsthand provenance:

"With this pen I have signed the Independent Offices Appropriation Bill which was passed over the President's veto. I hand it to you herewith with great pleasure."

The override represented an important early test of executive-legislative relations during Roosevelt's New Deal administration. Congress rejected the President's objections by overwhelming bipartisan margins—310 to 12 in the House and 63 to 27 in the Senate—restoring federal employee salary reductions that Roosevelt had opposed and funding numerous independent federal agencies.

Unlike many historic presentation pens that have become separated from their documentation over the decades, this display preserves the complete story: the original pen, the signed presentation letter establishing its provenance, and a period photograph of the Senate official who used it.

The wooden display frame houses all three components, with the fountain pen preserved beneath its own glass compartment.

From the Gary Burhop Collection.