Can the President Declare War on his Own?

Michael Streich

First published in Suite101

The power to declare war is expressly reserved to the United States Congress in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. Yet the last time Congress actually issued a formal declaration of war was on December 8, 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech before a joint session. That war declaration was nearly unanimous. Only Republican Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a pacifist, dissented. Although the United States has been involved in numerous global conflicts since the Second World War, there has never been an official war declaration by the Congress for any of those conflicts.

 

Declaring War Prior to World War II

 

Every American war fought by the United States before the Cold War came as a result of a formal Congressional vote in response to a presidential war message. The only exception might be the so-called Quasi-War fought as a naval conflict between France and the U.S. during the presidency of John Adams.

 

War resolutions were often hotly debated, such as the response to President Polk’s war message that began the Mexican-American War or Woodrow Wilson’s war message in 1917. When Congress voted on Wilson’s war request, Jeannette Rankin – the first woman in Congress, voted against war. She lost reelection, in part, because of this vote, but in 1940 returned to Congress.

 

American Wars and Conflicts after World War II

 

Congress never voted to go to war in 1950 when North Korea crossed the 38^th parallel, beginning the Korean War. The conflict in Korea was a United Nations operation, allowing President Truman to circumvent the Congress and set a Cold War precedent. Subsequent conflicts under other presidents would follow this example. Historians point out that the global nature of U.S. security interests forced a change in how presidents viewed their roles as commander-in-chief.

 

In August 1964, for example, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B Johnson a “blank check” to escalate American military actions in Vietnam. Only Senators Wayne Morse and Ernest Gruening dissented. Vietnam was, however, the product of the Cold War, evolving into a major military conflict after many years of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.

 

When President Ronald Reagan ordered marines to invade Grenada in 1983, Congress was not informed until after military actions had secured the Caribbean nation. Significantly, the operation was named “Urgent Fury,” suggesting immediate action. During the Cold War era and even into the contemporary Unipolar world in which the U.S. is the sole “superpower,” the often lengthy process of a war declaration can compromise global security interests.

 

The Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were not Declared Wars

 

The horrific events associated with 9/11 are often compared to Pearl Harbor. But President George W Bush’s efforts to punish the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and later the invasion of Iraq were initiated by the White House and not Congress. Congress supported the decisions through resolutions and funding measures, but there was no official declaration of war.

 

Returning to Constitutional Principles Might Prevent Unnecessary Conflicts

 

When the Founding Fathers gave Congress the sole and express power to declare war, they added to the checks and balances or separation of powers in the Constitution. Committing to war is costly, both in lives and money. The current war in Afghanistan may cost, according to analysts, three trillion dollars. Congressional debate slows emotional responses if normal rules of parliamentary procedure are employed.

 

The 21^st Century Congress should have the sole power of declaring war, especially in terms of conflicts that, like the Middle East wars, will result in huge expenditures and the deaths of many American soldiers. It is not enough to claim immunity on the basis of NATO commitments or United Nations mandates. This was an early 20^th Century argument against the proposal to join the League of Nations.

 

Returning the War Power to the Congress

 

The Founding Fathers attempted to create a government free from tyranny. The Constitution is empowered by the people of the Republic, through their elected Congressional delegates. Congressional reaction to conflicts instigated by the executive branch should not be after-the-fact, even though the 1973 War Powers Resolution allows the president to deploy U.S. troops without the prior approval of Congress.

 

References:

 

Robert David Johnson, Congress and the Cold War (Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Charles A. Stevenson, Congress at War: The Politics of Conflict Since 1789 (Potomac Books, 2007)

U.S. Constitution

*The copyright of this article is owned by Michael Streich. Reprints in any form must be granted by the author in writing.