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Author: Scott S. Barker
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 9781977240422
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282
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Book Description
The thesis of this book is that our modern Presidents have hijacked Congress's constitutional war-making powers, making themselves the "kings of war." Under the Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war. However, beginning with President Truman, our Presidents have claimed the "inherent" power as commanders in chief to commit the nation to war without congressional authorization. This power grab has had a profound effect on the balance of power between Congress and the presidency. It is the key ingredient in our current "executive-centric" national government. The book first explores how and why this happened. It begins with an historical account of the Constitutional Convention's treatment of the war-making power and the system adopted by the framers that divided the responsibilities between Congress (which decided whether war should be conducted) and the President (who conducted the war, subject to Congress's on-going power of the purse). There is a major chapter on the Northwest Indian War, under the Washington administration, which was the first war fought under the Constitution. Washington presided at the Constitutional Convention and believed that the decision to go to war was committed to Congress. Accordingly, as that war unfolded, Washington repeatedly went to Congress to request the resources he needed to fight the war. The book then explores the drastic change in that system beginning with President Truman's unilateral decision to commit the nation to war on the Korean Peninsula, and its development through the Cold War, the Vietnam War and finally President George W. Bush's most aggressive claim to the President's war powers in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. There is also a chapter on the special constitutional challenges presented by the advent of nuclear weapons. The book ends with an analysis of the factors that have allowed the presidency's power grab and proposes a legislative agenda to restore the war powers system to the one enshrined in the Constitution.
Author: Scott S. Barker
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 9781977240422
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282
Get Book Here
Book Description
The thesis of this book is that our modern Presidents have hijacked Congress's constitutional war-making powers, making themselves the "kings of war." Under the Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war. However, beginning with President Truman, our Presidents have claimed the "inherent" power as commanders in chief to commit the nation to war without congressional authorization. This power grab has had a profound effect on the balance of power between Congress and the presidency. It is the key ingredient in our current "executive-centric" national government. The book first explores how and why this happened. It begins with an historical account of the Constitutional Convention's treatment of the war-making power and the system adopted by the framers that divided the responsibilities between Congress (which decided whether war should be conducted) and the President (who conducted the war, subject to Congress's on-going power of the purse). There is a major chapter on the Northwest Indian War, under the Washington administration, which was the first war fought under the Constitution. Washington presided at the Constitutional Convention and believed that the decision to go to war was committed to Congress. Accordingly, as that war unfolded, Washington repeatedly went to Congress to request the resources he needed to fight the war. The book then explores the drastic change in that system beginning with President Truman's unilateral decision to commit the nation to war on the Korean Peninsula, and its development through the Cold War, the Vietnam War and finally President George W. Bush's most aggressive claim to the President's war powers in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. There is also a chapter on the special constitutional challenges presented by the advent of nuclear weapons. The book ends with an analysis of the factors that have allowed the presidency's power grab and proposes a legislative agenda to restore the war powers system to the one enshrined in the Constitution.
Author: Peter Irons
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780805080179
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 328
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Book Description
This book examines a fundamental question in the development of the American empire: What constraints does the Constitution place on our territorial expansion, military intervention, occupation of foreign countries, and on the power the president may exercise over American foreign policy? Worried about the dangers of unchecked executive power, the Founding Fathers deliberately assigned Congress the sole authority to make war. But the last time Congress declared war was on December 8, 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Since then, every president from Harry Truman to George W. Bush has used military force in pursuit of imperial objectives, while Congress and the Supreme Court have virtually abdicated their responsibilities to check presidential power. Legal historian Irons recounts this story of subversion from above, tracing presidents' increasing willingness to ignore congressional authority and even suspend civil liberties.--From publisher description.
Author: William G. Howell
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140084083X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360
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Book Description
Nearly five hundred times in the past century, American presidents have deployed the nation's military abroad, on missions ranging from embassy evacuations to full-scale wars. The question of whether Congress has effectively limited the president's power to do so has generally met with a resounding "no." In While Dangers Gather, William Howell and Jon Pevehouse reach a very different conclusion. The authors--one an American politics scholar, the other an international relations scholar--provide the most comprehensive and compelling evidence to date on Congress's influence on presidential war powers. Their findings have profound implications for contemporary debates about war, presidential power, and Congress's constitutional obligations. While devoting special attention to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, this book systematically analyzes the last half-century of U.S. military policy. Among its conclusions: Presidents are systematically less likely to exercise military force when their partisan opponents retain control of Congress. The partisan composition of Congress, however, matters most for proposed deployments that are larger in size and directed at less strategically important locales. Moreover, congressional influence is often achieved not through bold legislative action but through public posturing--engaging the media, raising public concerns, and stirring domestic and international doubt about the United States' resolve to see a fight through to the end.
Author: Louis Fisher
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
For this new edition, Louis Fisher has updated his arguments to include critiques of the Clinton & Bush presidencies, particularly the Use of Force Act, the Iraq Resolution of 2002, the 'preemption doctrine' of the current U.S. administration, & the order authorizing military tribunals.
Author: William Whiting
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Executive power
Languages : en
Pages : 162
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Book Description
Author: Brad McKim
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781977265241
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Between Lincoln and FDR, the Presidency and the United States come of age In the wake of the Civil War, fourteen men will succeed Abraham Lincoln and attempt to reunify the United States. As their personal tales intertwine and overlap on their way to the Presidency, they defer to Congress until it is clear that Democrats and Republicans are more concerned with the prerogatives of power and patronage than Lincoln's pledge of freedom and opportunity for all Americans. The 19th-century Presidents battle with Congress to reform how jobs and other benefits are dispensed, while the Presidents of the early 20th century find themselves presiding over a country that has transitioned from an agricultural economy-supported by slave and immigrant labor-to an industrial economy generating the wealth that thrusts the country onto the world stage. Through it all, the Presidents continue the novel practice of handing over power peacefully, even in the face of a Depression that will challenge the United States' newfound status as a world power. "Brad McKim is a masterful storyteller. He seamlessly wove the stories of our first 15 presidents together into a compelling, interesting, and informative narrative." -Scott Barker, Author, The Kings of War: How Our Modern Presidents Hijacked Congress' War-Making Powers and What to Do About It "McKim weaves fascinating stories of presidential lives from their youth through early love affairs and careers, into political prominence. Not a retelling of common knowledge, this book reveals a fabric of personal stories not found in high school history books." -Jeff Bensch, Author, History of American Holidays "I have read countless books on the country's chief executives and I learned something about each president that I never knew before. I could not put A Presidents Story down and can't wait to read the sequel!" -Bradley Nahrstadt, Author, Alton B. Parker: The Man Who Challenged Roosevelt
Author: Michael A. Genovese
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137579315
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 132
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Book Description
This book features a lively debate between two prominent scholars—Michael A. Genovese and David Gray Adler—on the critical issue of whether the Constitution, written in the 18th Century, remains adequate to the national security challenges of our time. The question of the scope of the president’s constitutional authority—if any—to initiate war on behalf of the American people, long the subject of heated debate in the corridors of power and the groves of academe, has become an issue of surpassing importance for a nation confronted by existential threats in an Age of Terrorism. This question should be thoroughly reviewed and debated by members of Congress, and considered by all Americans before they are asked to go to war. If the constitutional allocation of powers on matters of war and peace is outdated, what changes should be made? Is there a need to increase presidential power? What role should Congress play in the war on terror?
Author: Clarence Arthur Berdahl
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Finance
Languages : en
Pages : 770
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Book Description
Author:
Publisher: LLMC
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 153
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Book Description
Author: Sarah Burns
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700628738
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328
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Book Description
The Constitution of the United States divides war powers between the executive and legislative branches to guard against ill-advised or unnecessary military action. This division of powers compels both branches to hold each other accountable and work in tandem. And yet, since the Cold War, congressional ambition has waned on this front. Even when Congress does provide initial authorization for larger operations, they do not provide strict parameters or clear end dates. As a result, one president after another has initiated and carried out poorly developed and poorly executed military policy. The Politics of War Powers offers a measured, deeply informed look at how the American constitutional system broke down, how it impacts decision-making today, and how we might find our way out of this unhealthy power division. Sarah Burns starts with a nuanced account of the theoretical and historical development of war powers in the United States. Where discussions of presidential power often lean on the concept of the Lockean Prerogative, Burns locates a more constructive source in Montesquieu. Unlike Locke, Montesquieu combines universal normative prescriptions with an emphasis on tailoring the structure to the unique needs of a society. In doing so, the separation of powers can be customized while maintaining the moderation needed to create a healthy institutional balance. He demonstrates the importance of forcing the branches into dialogue, putting them, as he says, “in a position to resist” each other. Burns’s conclusion—after tracing changes through Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration, the Cold War, and the War on Terror—is that presidents now command a dangerous degree of unilateral power. Burns’s work ranges across Montesquieu’s theory, the debate over the creation of the Constitution, historical precedent, and the current crisis. Through her analysis, both a fuller picture of the alterations to the constitutional system and ideas on how to address the resulting imbalance of power emerge.
