Akhil Reed Amar opens this Yale lecture on America's Written Constitution by counting: before the Civil War the Supreme Court struck down one federal statute, while presidents vetoed roughly two dozen bills on constitutional grounds. He traces that imbalance back to Article II, starting with the original vice presidency, filled by the runner-up rather than a running mate, as proof that executive power runs continuously while a vacant House seat simply waits for election. He walks through James Madison's objection to the succession statute placing legislative leaders in line despite the Incompatibility Clause, then reads the presidential oath clause by clause, noting the absence of a religious test, the option to affirm, and a promise to defend the Constitution itself rather than every statute Congress passes. That distinction, Amar argues, is the origin of the constitutional veto. The lecture closes by comparing early vetoes with early judicial review as parallel tools of constitutional enforcement.