The Constitution of the United States of America was designed as the balance between the Articles of Confederation and the British monarchy. The Founders drafted the document with clear safeguards and limitations in place to prevent the rise of a British like government. A dominant executive branch was feared to become king-like; as a result, presidential powers as the Commander in Chief were designed to be held within the confines of Congress’ consent. As time progressed, rapid expansion of the executive’s power is seen through neglect of the necessity of congressional approval. Nearly 250 years later, the president possesses too much of the “War Power” due to clear disregard of the necessity of congressionally sanctioned wars.
As the Commander
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After the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, both Antifederalists and Federalists feared the rise of a monarch, although to different measures. In the drafting of the Constitution, the Founders ensured to put safeguards in place to prevent the expansion of the Executive. In the expression of Congressional powers, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 gives Congress the power “to declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.” The framers drafted the War Power clause in order to decrease the likelihood of foreign military actions. However, “the last time Congress declared war was December 8, 1941, but U.S. troops have been sent into action many times since that date.” Furthermore, presidents have begun to question the relevancy of the Constitutional distribution of war powers, and they have authorized their own actions without the Congressional approval. In “Federalist Paper 69,” Alexander Hamilton wrote “the President will have only the occasional command of such part of the militia of the nation as by legislative provision may be called into the actual service of the Union.” However in 1992, over 200 years later, the Attorney General and the Office of Legal Counsel “concluded that the President has the power to commit United States troops abroad,” as well as to “take military action,” “for the purpose of protecting important national interests,” even without specific prior authorization from Congress.” This conclusion is in direct contradiction to the original intent of the Founders. The State department in defense of the Vietnam War argued 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." The State Department’s claim that the numerous accounts of
Expressed within the US Constitution is Congress' authority to write laws, while the Executive Branch is firmly restricted to enacting the laws. However, in 200 years' time, Executive power has consistently enacted arbitrary laws, and governed with unconstitutional agencies and czars. Greg Abbott's proposed Constitutional amendments recalibrate federal power by banning the executive branch from writing laws. The history of executive overreach is long and illustrious.
Current Event: Conscription is not an enumerated power for the legislative branch in the Constitution, but in the Vietnam War, it was justified through the elastic clause as Congress declared it necessary and proper to execute the enumerated powers. 13. 3/5ths Compromise: Definition: For representation in the House of Representatives, since slaves were considered property by slave states, but those same states wanted more representation in Congress, a compromise was reached where each slave would be counted as 3/5 of a
The War Powers Resolution of 1973, more commonly known as the War Powers Act, requires that the President of the United States must inform Congress within 48 hours of sending any of the troops into armed action. The Resolution also prohibits any military personnel from being in a state of war for more than sixty days. This also includes an additional thirty days for withdrawing troops from conflict. After this time period has past, the President is urged to seek a further approval from Congress or a formal declaration of war.
Harry’s Truman Executive Order 10340 was declared unconstitutional because the president was willing to illegally take possession of steel mills during the Korean War therefore, making
Many of the people who argue from different perspectives focus on the key words in the constitution to make their arguments stronger. John Yoo contends that declaring war is the mechanism of authorization as it is stated in the constitution. Thus, the president is commander in chief whose purpose is to control the war after the decision is made. He tries to make his argument more clear by showing that Congress is the “sole authority to engage the nation in war” (Yoo).I disagree with Yoo’s argument because being commander in chief of the armed forces is a significant authority; moreover the constitution gives the authority to the president to send soldiers to foreign countries in case there is an urgent situation that may require the armed forces. In addition to that, Turner claims that in the original constitution the term. "to make War" was used which gives essentially all powers related to war beyond the actual command of troops, as had been the case under the Articles of Confederation.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. Even though Congress has remained quite active in wartime politics, ranging from its use of hearings to stimulate political debate to the shaping of military budgets, Congress no longer declares war, and haven’t since 1942. I think the presidents have taken the war powers that belongs to Congress through inherent powers. There are many reasons for why presidents usurped so much power.
“The accumulation of all powers..in the same hands, whether of one or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, 1788) ( Background Essay) This quote explains the reasoning for one of the framers, (B) Separation of Powers. The framers of the constitution were created to prevent tyranny and create a stronger government that would hold the nation together. Tyranny ultimately means harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual-- like a king or dictator. The constitution guarded against tyranny in 4 ways: (A)Federalism, (B)Separation of Powers, (C)Checks & Balances, and (D)Small State-Large State.
In his speech, Roosevelt stated in no uncertain terms that Hostilities exist and that it becomes necessary to take action to make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. As it is the government’s duty to protect the individuals under it, the Civil Defense Administration’s production demonstrated the immense apprehension of the time. With
This was found in the Freeman’s journal. This paper is a response to federalist paper #44 which was written by Madison. The anti-federalist paper stated what congress could do and what state can not do. While the federalist paper was about what the restrictions a state had. A quote from the anti-federalist article is that “Congress may, even in time of peace, raise an army of 100,000 men”, But they can not train militia.
Constitution grants congress the power to declare war. The president creates the power to direct the military after a congressional declaration of war from Article ii , Section 2 which names the president commander -in - chief of the armed forces. The war power is important because it is designed to limit the executive power to wage war without congressional approval. The war power is needed so that the power is to be maintained the navy and make rules for governing of the nation’s military forces. The limits of the war power: (1) Congress declared war, (2) Congress specifically authorized military actions,(3) When an attack on the U.S. had occurred and congress multiple be notified within 48 hours and ended within 60 days without congress permission.
In Article 2, section 2 of the Constitution, it states that the president is seen as the commander and chief of the military and that he had the authority to make deals and treaties with the input of the Senate and under the Constitution, the Congress is approved to increase and support armies, which was something quite different than before, when the Confederation was in place. When more power was handed over to the government by the president, they were able to have more authority to govern over its constituencies and to make sure that the nation was safe from any danger both within and outside the United
DBQ Essay The United States Constitution is a document that or founding fathers made in order to replace the failing Articles of Confederation (A of C). Under the Constitution, the current government and states don’t have the problems they faced when the A of C was in action. The Constitution was created in 1788, and held an idea that the whole nation was nervous about. This idea was a strong national government, and the Federalist assured the people that this new government would work. The framers of the Constitution decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments because the A of C had many problems, there was a need for the layout of new government, rights, and laws, and there was a need for the Federal
“The accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether one, a few, or many… may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny. ”-James Madison. Fifty-five delegates, from the thirteen states, met in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to discuss and revise the Articles of Confederation. The chief executive and the representatives worked to create a frame for what is now our Constitution. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in four ways; Federalism that creates a State and Federal government, Separation of Powers that gives equal power to the three branches, Checks and Balances that create balance in the three branches by checking each other and being checked and the Small States vs the Big States ensures an equal voice for all states no matter what their size.
The constitution attempts to evenly distribute powers between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government by providing the president or the commander-in-chief the power to control and supervise the military upon approval by congress, who have the power to declare war and to support the armed forces. The subject of debate regarding the act is whether the president has the authority to send military troops to war without congressional approval. The way the war powers act was written makes it difficult to decipher approximately how much power is the president privileged in the war-making process. According to the constitution congress have the powers to authorize war by formally granting letters that verify and confirm the
An argument that is made is the notion of Congress not having enough time to deliberate and declare war. What if the country is suddenly attacked? Is it fair for the country to sit on their hands and wait for them to make up their minds when action needs to be taken immediately. The argument of a state of emergency is the loophole that the presidents over time have used to their advantage. Schlesinger says of the Cold War-era presidency, “The imperial presidency was essentially the creation of foreign policy.