Congress Overrides Reagan's Veto of Anti-Apartheid Act, Imposing Sanctions on South Africa

On October 2, 1986, the U.S. Congress overrides President Reagan's veto of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, imposing economic sanctions on South Africa's apartheid government. The vote is 313-83 in the House and 78-21 in the Senate, representing a massive bipartisan rebuke of Reagan's policy of "constructive engagement" with the white minority government. Reagan argues that sanctions will harm Black South Africans and that quiet diplomacy is more effective. Critics, including the Congressional Black Caucus and the broader civil rights movement, argue Reagan's policy provides cover for apartheid. His veto — and the override — becomes a defining illustration of Reagan's consistent pattern of siding against racial justice when political interests align: his opposition to the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act's extension, and now apartheid sanctions all follow the same logic of states' rights and non-intervention over federal anti-discrimination action.