New Book on Historical Gloss and Foreign Affairs, Part IV
This is the fourth of five posts about my new book, Historical Gloss and Foreign Affairs: Constitutional Authority in Practice. In the last post, I discussed the termination of U.S. treaties and executive agreements. In this post, I consider the distribution of authority between Congress and the President with respect to the use of military force.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, but many military conflicts do not involve formal declarations of war, and that was true even at the Founding. And the Constitution makes the President the Commander in Chief without defining the nature or scope of that role.
There has long been uncertainty about the interaction of these provisions. There have always been questions, for example, about the extent to which the President can take defensive military actions without seeking congressional approval and when (if ever) Congress needs to declare war in order to authorize hostilities.
As with the issue of treaty termination discussed in my last post, the history here is complicated.
It was always thought that presidents had some defensive war authority, but the bounds of it were unclear. Presidents authorized many low-level uses of force unilaterally throughout the nineteenth century, sometimes controversially. But the big wars against foreign powers—the Quasi-War against France at the end of the 1700s, the War of 1812 against Britain, the Mexican-American War in the 1840s, and the Spanish-American War at the end of the nineteenth century—were all authorized by Congress.
In 1900, President McKinley sent over 5000 troops to China as part of a multi-national force to stop the Boxer rebellion there. He had the troops already available in Asia as a result of the Spanish-American War and the U.S. occupation of the Philippines. Despite the large size of the operation, McKinley did not seek congressional approval.
Presidents in the early twentieth century often initiated small-scale uses of force in Latin America to address uprisings, protect U.S. business interests, and prevent European interventions—uses of force that they sometimes labeled as “police actions.”
The two World Wars were both authorized (and, indeed, officially declared) by Congress. But then in 1950 President Truman sent troops to Korea without getting congressional authorization, leading to a significant military conflict that lasted several years and resulted in many American casualties. The Truman administration also called this a “police action.”
A further complication afte
Article from Latest
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.