President's Role In Foreign Policymaking

As the chief diplomat of the United States, the president is the dominant force in foreign policymaking. The explicit powers of the president granted by the Constitution are all associated with foreign affairs and policymaking in different degree. The president has the highest power compared to any other individual citizen within the nation. Even though Congress does play a rather significant role and does use its powers to assert its role in foreign affairs, the president problematically remains the stronger force. I believe it is necessary for Congress to play a crucial in foreign policymaking in order to prevent the abuse of presidential power which may cause serious consequences for the nation. The powers of the president should be discussed

Even though the president does not have the power to declare war and his or her commanding power is limited to “Army and Navy”, the powers are usually expanded during wartimes. For example, President Lincoln and President Roosevelt have both expanded the power as commander in chief during wars (337). After the 9/11 attack, President George W. Bush declared that since he was the commander in chief, he had the power to make war and take any action that seemed fit in order to protect the citizens of the United States (338). The extreme claims of powers by Bush posed a potential threat to the system of balanced powers, however, it also shows how the position of commander in chief empowers the president largely in terms of foreign

Without the involvement of Congress, the executive branch could possibly abuse its power and make poor decisions, especially during wars. The sharpest conflict between the president and Congress has to be their partial overlapping of the powers on military affairs. While Congress can declare war and raise funds for the military, the president as the commander in chief has “the power to repel sudden attacks” (587). Thus, there were too many cases of the president sending troops out without approval from Congress. Ironically, Congress has only used its power of declaring war five times. Tragically, around 100,000 Americans died from the two undeclared wars in Vietnam and Korea (587). Even with the War Powers Resolution, the president still sends troops into combat situations. Congress is often reluctant to protest the president’s actions based on the fear that America would be viewed as powerless by foreign countries. The order to invade Iraq in 2003 by President George W. Bush was given even before Congress had a chance to authorize it, which showed a huge expansion of presidential power in handling foreign affairs (353). Wars like this are not beneficial for the nation’s reputation or economic situation, nor would they be favored or supported by the citizens. If Congress played a more important role in foreign policymaking and took effective actions to defend its powers especially in the war-making area,