The War Powers Resolution was the result of a consistent and ongoing power struggle between the President and Congress in the United States. The Constitution of the United States lays out the powers of the different branches of government. These branches are specifically designed to check each other to create a balance of power. In regards to foreign security affairs, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states that the Congress has the power to declare war, maintain the army and navy, and control war funding. Under article II, section 2 the President is the Commander and Chief of the Army and Navy. The President can also veto a declaration of war made by the Congress which must be overturned by a 3/4ths vote by the Congress. The Presidential veto power was also used to create a hurdle for the Legislative branch in passing this policy. However, as this essay will establish, the Congress was able to pass the bill despite the opposition from the Executive branch. The War Powers Resolution is a controversial piece of legislation because it challenged the power of the President as the Commander and Chief of the army and navy. This challenge was perpetrated by Congress in order to check this power of the President and strengthen the significance of the right to declare war.
The War Powers Resolution took place in the context of the Cold War and the Vietnam War during the 1960s and 70s. The United States was supporting the South Vietnam troops in a battle against the Northern state of Hanoi. The controversy over the American involvement in Vietnam was heightened by the seeming lack of transparency in government. Two Presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, used their Constitutional authority as Commander and Chief to bypa...
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Grimmett, Richard F.“The War Powers Resolution: After 30 Years.” CRS Report for Congress. March 11, 2004. https://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL32267.html.
Marder, Murry. “Nixon Opposes Repeal of Tonkin Resolution: Administration Opposes Senate Repeal of Tonkin Gulf Resolution.” The Washington Post. December 18, 1969. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/143683440.
McMahon, Robert. “Balance of War Powers: the U.S. President and Congress.” Council of Foreign Relations. September 2013. http://www.cfr.org/united-states/balance-war-powers-us-President-congress/p13092#p5.
Stephen L. Carter, “The Constituionality of the War Powers Resolution,” Virginia Law Review, Vol. 70, No. 1, February 1984, http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/1072825.
U.S. Constitution. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/Constitution_transcript.html
to declare war was vested in the Congress. This decision set the stage for the
Claremont Education. 18 May 2006. . War Powers Resolution: Presidential Compliance? 14 February 2006 -. Congressional Research Service Reports -.
In both wars, “Presidents have often engaged in military operations without express Congressional consent. These operations include the Korean War, the Vietnam War,” (War Powers 2008). The result of the action to go to war in Vietnam led to the passing of the the War Powers Resolution in 1973. Since World War II, the presidency seemed to have control over Congress, which did change after the Vietnam War. The wars, though, were meant to protect the ideals of democracy in other parts of the world. However, to their claim, they say that, “since the Constitution was adopted there have been at least 125 instances in which the President has ordered the armed forces to take action or maintain positions abroad without obtaining prior congressional authorization, starting with the ‘undeclared war’ with France,” (Woods). However, they include several things that were very small, and not very large scale attacks, not even against other federal
Vasquez, John A. "The Probability of War, 1816-1992. Presidential Address to the International Studies Association, March 25, 2002, New Orleans." International Studies Quarterly 48.1 (2004): 1-27. Print.
The Vietnam War lasted from the winter of 1956 to the spring of 1975. The Vietnam War was a domesticated civil war between the communist, North Vietnam, and the democratic, South Vietnam. The North was supported by the Chinese communist, and the leader Ho Chi Minh. The Vietnam War introduced the United States to the Vietcong and Guerrilla warfare. During this time, the United States faced our own battles at home between two social groups called the Doves and the Hawks. This war was very divisive. The Doves protested and Hawks shunned them. Young men without money were being drafted while others went to college, got a medical note, or fled the country. Tensions were already high in the United States when Congress passed Public Law 88- 408, also known as the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.
On August 7th, 1964, the Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Johnson a legal guideline for the prosecution of the war. The Constitution establishes the President as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but to balance and check this power the Constitution invests Congress with the power to declare war. Morse disapproved of the open ended nature of the approval and accused Congress for giving the President and the military a “blank check” which would be paid for with taxpayer’s money and citizens’ lives. All other senators, aside from Wayne Morse and Ernest Gruening were in favor for the joint resolution that promised “to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia”. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution stated that “Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent any further aggression.” Morse was mostly alone in his opposition to President Johnson’s Vietnam policy, as he was a senior member of the
When the War Powers act was created in 1973, it was intended to check the president’s power. As the bill past it resulted in the President and Congress coming to a joint resolution where both have judgement in the Armed Forces. When the United States commits to an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S Congress. There is many talk that is the War Powers act is it constitutional or not? I believe that it is constitutional because the act check the power of the Executive branch with Legislative branch. But how does the the act attempt to limit the power of the president?
Conversely, the President and his team cannot sustain any national security policy course without the support of Congress and the American people.” (J. Bartholomees, 2008). Under the War Powers Act of 1973 congress and the president have the responsibility of monitoring our nation’s security. While the president has the authority to make treaties, it’s congress’ job to keeps an eye on the laws of its administration in order to ensure they are being interpreted and executed properly. The power of agreement is essential between the two parties (E. Meese,
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress and the president different responsibilities and duties over military powers, but there have long been disagreements about where one's war powers begin and the other's ends. The U.S. Constitution allows the president to wage wars as commander in chief while Congress has the power to declare and fund wars. Experts agree that presidents can order U.S. troops to fight when the country is attacked or attack appears probable but chief executives from both major parties often differ with Congress over their ability to initiate military force in other combat situations.
The author details four years of Nixon and Kissinger waging a war of wills against the North Vietnamese. Neither side concede sufficiently for both to agree to terms. The author describes how Nixon and Kissinger maneuver through domestic and international politics to arrange an acceptable peace settlement. At times Nixon’s motivations were centered squarely on his reelection bid. Nixon is constrained by domestic political concerns to end the war. He has to gradually reduce of U.S. troops, and place the burden on the South Vietnamese while still actively fighting the
What Kimball does demonstrate is that Nixon was more than willing to use force to attain his goals in Vietnam. That these goals often were intertwined with Nixon’s domestic political agenda is clearly evident. His desire for a decent interval is an example of this. Decent interval is the establishment of conditions to preserve the South Vietnamese government after a U.S. withdraw. The interval had to be of sufficient time to allow for Nixon to exploit his successes on the U.S. domestic political front. He demonstrates that, by in large, Nixon and Kissinger kept to the same strategy of Vietnamization, triangular diplomacy and use of force. The Enemy’s political will is an obvious factor for Nixon not achieving his goals. However, in the author’s view, Nixon should have capitulated at the first set back and exited Vietnam altogether. That he did not, that he persisted in his strategy, that he continued to use force, the author attributes to Nixon’s black id following the madman theory.
While the original point of creating the War Powers Resolution was to withhold the President to sustain wars without approval from Congress, some argue that today the War Powers Resolution is used as a tool for Congress to condemn the President about the action of war. Gordon Adams, a foreign policy professor at American University stated “The rhetoric is sadly familiar, it just flips by party, depending on who's deploying the troops.” (Greenblatt, 2011). Many people believe that when the United States goes to war, it should not be decided by a single person. However, some say no President has been able to accept that the War Powers Resolution is, in fact, constitutional and that they think that it violates the separation of powers and their authority as commander in chief (Greenblatt, 2011). The intention of the War Powers Resolution has been
There are two provisions of the War Powers Resolution that were designed to limit the President’s war making power. The first provision is if the President sent troops into combat, he or she must notify the Congress within 48 hours. This limits the President’s powers over war making because the President must receive Congress’s approval to continue to have troops in.
Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “Hard and Soft Power in American Foreign Policy.” In Paradox of American Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 4-17. Print.
Gabriel, K.(1969), The politics of power: Allied diplomacy and the world crisis of 1943-1945, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p.4.