Download or read book The Kings of War How Our Modern Presidents Hijacked Congress s War Making Powers and What To Do About It written by Scott S. Barker and published by Outskirts Press. This book was released on 2021-03-22 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book War Powers written by Peter Irons and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2006-05-02 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book While Dangers Gather written by William G. Howell and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-06-27 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The War Power in an Age of Terrorism written by Michael A. Genovese and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-12-22 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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?
Download or read book A Presidents Story Too written by Brad McKim and published by . This book was released on 2024-01-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book The Politics of War Powers written by Sarah Burns and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2019-11-15 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Presidential War Powers on Domestic Soil written by Edward DeV. Bunn and published by . This book was released on 1969-06 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Necessity and crisis produce the laws most significant to society. The greatest socially designed crisis is war. But, as productive as it is of laws and yet recognized by society as lawful, it violates the very fundamentals of organized society. War is the legalization of strife and tyranny. The purpose of the study is to seek out the war powers exercised by our Presidents upon domestic soil. The study looks back through the pages of our war history to the early exercises of Presidential war powers to note their beginnings and to show their developments. The study reflects the extent to which the President's office has had sufficient powers to meet the war emergencies and whether Congress has performed its constitutional obligation to enact legislation conferring capable war powers upon the President. It will be seen that the present powers bear the marks of evolution. The most significant development will be found in the economic controls and the present stage of plans to impose further economic controls. Plans have been made and additional wartime economic controls may be just around the corner. The study notes that the President and the Congress are both functioning on the misunderstanding of the dynamic role public opinion has played in times of crisis. There is an inextricable interwoven relationship between public sentiment and all decision making in this country. One could not expect otherwise where freedom of speech is paramount. Up to the point where emergency action is an absolute necessity, public sentiment has played an abiding overriding role in our war power decision making. The President and Congress have failed to capitalize on this abiding overriding power that has been such a guiding force behind Presidential wartime powers. They have more fear of the public than is justified and vastly more support from it than they recognize. They have focused all too much on the limiting effect of public sentiment and failed to take advantage of its power. While it is frequently said that ours is a government of checks and balances between the three branches-Legislative, Executive and Judicial-the true depth of power and the weighty check upon the abuse of that power has been that of public sentiment. Ours is a government of balance and we must not tilt or ignore any aspect of the balance-the President, the Congress, the courts and the public sentiment.
Download or read book The War making Powers of the President written by Ann Van Wynen Thomas and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Collision Or Collusion The Congress the President and the Ambiguity of War Powers written by William Montgomery Raymond (Jr) and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 721 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I examine the interactions between a president and members of Congress during foreign policy crises involving the use of American forces and I address the questions: Why do members of Congress continually assert their constitutional rights on war powers yet acquiesce to executive encroachment of those same rights? Why do presidents and members of Congress perpetuate the ambiguity about war powers? To explore the impact of the War Powers Resolution (WPR) on executive-congressional relations, I compare two U.S. interventions that occurred before its passage (Lebanon, 1958 and Dominican Republic, 1965) to two that occurred after (Mayaguez, 1975 and Grenada 1983). I also examine four "non-interventions"--Dien Bien Phu (1954), Pueblo (1968), Angola (1975), and Nicaragua (1980s)--to consider whether the WPR has had a restraining influence on presidents and to identify those factors in a crisis that distinguish an intervention from a non-intervention.
Download or read book A More Perfect Constitution written by Larry Sabato and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The political book of the year, from the acclaimed founder and director of the Center for politics at the University of Virginia.
Download or read book Pentagon 9 11 written by Alfred Goldberg and published by Office of the Secretary, Historical Offi. This book was released on 2007-09-05 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most comprehensive account to date of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and aftermath, this volume includes unprecedented details on the impact on the Pentagon building and personnel and the scope of the rescue, recovery, and caregiving effort. It features 32 pages of photographs and more than a dozen diagrams and illustrations not previously available.
Download or read book DISCOURSE ON THE ASPECTS OF THE WAR written by JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE and published by . This book was released on 1863 with total page 920 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Congressional Record written by United States. Congress and published by . This book was released on 1952 with total page 1414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)
Download or read book Making Twenty First Century Strategy written by Dennis M. Drew and published by www.Militarybookshop.CompanyUK. This book was released on 2010-05 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new work defines national security strategy, its objectives, the problems it confronts, and the influences that constrain and facilitate its development and implementation in a post-Cold War, post-9/11 environment. The authors note that making and implementing national strategy centers on risk management and present a model for assessing strategic risks and the process for allocating limited resources to reduce them. The major threats facing the United States now come from its unique status as "the sole remaining superpower" against which no nation-state or other entity can hope to compete through conventional means. The alternative is what is now called asymmetrical or fourth generation warfare. Drew and Snow discuss all these factors in detail and bring them together by examining the continuing problems of making strategy in a changed and changing world. Originally published in 2006.
Download or read book A Patriot s History of the United States written by Larry Schweikart and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2004-12-29 with total page 1350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.
Download or read book Air Power and the Ground War in Vietnam written by Donald J. Mrozek and published by The Minerva Group, Inc.. This book was released on 2002 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Donald J. Mrozeks research sheds considerable light on how the use of air power evolved in the Vietnam War. Much more than simply retelling events, Mrozek analyzes how history, politics, technology, and the complexity of the war drove the application of air power in a long and divisive struggle. Mrozek delves into a wealth of original documentation, and his scholarship is impeccable. His analysis is thorough and balanced. His conclusions are well reasoned but will trouble those who have never seriously considered how the application of air power is influenced by factors far beyond the battlefield. Wether or not the reader agrees with Mrozek, the quality of his research and analysis makes his conclusions impossible to ignore. John C. Fryer, Jr. Brigadier General, United States Air Force Commander, Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education
Download or read book Killing Hope written by William Blum and published by . This book was released on 2022-07-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Killing Hope, William Blum, author of the bestselling Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower, provides a devastating and comprehensive account of America's covert and overt military actions in the world, all the way from China in the 1940s to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and - in this updated edition - beyond. Is the United States, as it likes to claim, a global force for democracy? Killing Hope shows the answer to this question to be a resounding 'no'.
