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Essay On War Powers

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Much of the war powers in the United States government falls on the acts of our Congress. Nonetheless, the President of the United States still holds some powers over the military and over the acts of waging war. Once Congress declares war, it is the duty of the President to be the leader of that war. The Presidents title is the Commander in Chief, therefor all leaders of the military report directly to the President. This title undoubtedly gives the President many powers over war, even ones that are not directly stated in the United States Constitution. Each President has experienced these powers in different ways. Some had not used any of the powers given to them, some used them more than they should. Over the past hundred years the ways …show more content…

President Nixon had secretly bombed Cambodia, without Congress or the citizens of the United States knowing. With these bombings Nixon had killed innocent civilians of Cambodia. This classified secret was kept in the White house for almost a year until there was a leak of information, in which the American people had seen the actions the President had taken without the proper checks and balances. (Billofrigthsinstitue.org) Because of this, the United States Congress made a resolution to limit the powers accessible to the President for war and military action. This resolution was called the War Powers Resolution. A short summary of the resolution is that it is intended to ensure the President and Congress work together to decide when to deploy forces or use hostile action. It also sets rules and laws, such as forces must be withdrawn in 60 days if not approved by congress. (Library of Congress) For an example of the Resolution, shortly after its initiation in “1975: President Ford submitted a report to Congress as a result of his order to the U.S. armed forces to retake the Mayaguez, a U.S. merchant vessel which had been seized by Cambodia. … triggering the 60-day time limit; however the operation was completed before 60 days had expired” (Library of

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The poor drafting of the WPR since the sections of the War Powers Resolution does not mention for example any procedures or what the congress can do when the president choose not to comply with the resolution. In addition the Congress unwillingness to enforced it over the years made it unsuccessful to be fully functional, that is why the United States Presidents had exploited some faults in the War Powers Resolution to undermine it, however the Congress, has the absolute powers to enforce it yet they did not, and so the WPR came through ups and downs due to its disadvantageous text and vagueness and resulted in ongoing tug of war in the Congress itself between the House and the Senate (Teacher. Law, 2013). If we look to the main function behind

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George Washington refused to share documents related to a military expedition against Native Americans. Congress had demanded White House records and testimony from his staff. Washington met with his Cabinet and together they agreed the president had the authority to refuse Congress — in the public interest. So began the use of executive privilege. Every president, in some form, has invoked executive privilege.

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1152 Words | 5 Pages

The constitution is quite vague and often needs defining. The War Powers act, while primarily insuring collective judgment, also provides a necessary definition for the war powers. The war powers are split between the two, and the only provision directly concerning the matter in Article II of the Constitution is that the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces. What does that entail? If the president could just freely use the troops with no respect for congressional authority, he would never find the need to seek a congressional war declaration, which would be entirely to his advantage and allow him to act unilaterally, which is definitely not how our framers intended our government to work.

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1314 Words | 6 Pages

Even with certain restrictions and checks of power the president still maintain some significant areas of power over congress such the ability to veto legislation passed by congress. This ability grants the president a significant amount of power over the legislative process in the U.S as ultimately he is able to set the agenda of the country’s political schedule, and determine the direction of the country’s political schedule. Along with the ability to enact vetoes without the interference of a hostile congress uncooperative congress. The president also posses the ability to set the agenda for what legislation to recommend to congress and to what priority level each recommendation should be given. This power does come with its limits though as most situations do not give the president the ultimate authority to force congress to address his proposal and he must instead convince congress to address his issue with priority.

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219 Words | 1 Pages

The War Powers Act does work within the constitutional authority of congress. The act was passed on November seventh 1993. The law is a law that is intended to limit the presidential power usage of the military. It limits the power of the president and makes the president go through congress first before making any major decisions. It is a very controversial topic with the citizens whether think the War Powers act is right or wrong.

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450 Words | 2 Pages

SIMULATED CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SPEECH QUESTIONS Unit Three - What happened at the Philadelphia Convention? 1. Because of different economic systems, Northern and Southern states had different interests. These conflicting interests led to disagreements at the Philadelphia Convention. • Describe at least two disagreements between Northern and Southern states at the Convention.

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720 Words | 3 Pages

This means that the president can declare war. Pardoning- Presidents can exercise a check on judicial power through their constitutional authority to grant reprieves or

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However when the perceived threat recedes and public support for military actions being to crumble, presidents are often left on their own to defend their actions. Another way that a president has used his power was in 2011, when President Obama ignored the Wars Powers Resolution and did not seek congressional approval after sixty days for troops he sent to Libya. More presidents that used their powers were President Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Harry S. Truman when they negotiated the United Nations Treaty (1945) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

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If assistance is needed the president can invoke the authority and enforce Laws. The implied powers the president has taken over time are the authorities to negotiate treaties and sign executive agreements.

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479 Words | 2 Pages

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

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886 Words | 4 Pages

There have been many times where presidents of the United States make decisions that deal with critical problems of the nation. These actions have had varying rates of success. An example of this is the Nullification crisis in which South Carolina refused to honor the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 because they stated that they were unconstitutional. President Jackson had to revise the tariff so that everyone could agree on set taxes of imported goods and so that the country could focus on issues that would be more important in the long run. Another example is the Southern states’ secession from the United States.

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343 Words | 2 Pages

Enumerated powers, also referred to as expressed powers, are rules or powers given to the government. The enumerated powers are a list of things the government is authorized or allowed to do. The enumerated powers of the government are directly listed in the United States Constitution. The beginning talks about the specific powers the three branches can have such as what they can do and what they should look like and be like. Some examples of enumerated powers include taxing, regulating commerce with other nations, declaring war, creating post offices, and providing a Navy.

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878 Words | 4 Pages

Informal powers are granted to the president now, in order to “better the country.” The president is capable of hurting other countries with his powers and modern presidents have a lot of powers that are not specifically given in the

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(Ziv 2014:114). Even though the NSC Advisor’s role has constantly changed based on the personality and power dynamic of the president, there is no doubt that the institution of the Presidency has taken more of a role on foreign policy than the State Department. Furthermore, we can see the increasing role of the Presidency through the War Powers Act of 1973, which provided the president with the capacity to place troops anywhere in the world for 60 days and an additional 30-day extension by explaining the need to do so to congress. Through this the Presidency gained significantly more power to influence foreign policy, and marginalized the role of the State

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642 Words | 3 Pages

The Constitution defines the president as the executive who puts into effect the laws Congress passes. The president is elected every four years, and can only be re-elected once. The president is both the head of state and head of government of the USA, and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The president is also responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. The president of the USA is by many considered the most powerful man in the world.

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