Who decides if America goes to war? (Worth Repeating).According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. George W Bush, the president decides when America will wage war. But according to the Constitution, only Congress may declare war. -- Editor "The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . In this respect his authority would be nominally the same with that of the king of Great Britain Noun 1. King of Great Britain - the sovereign ruler of England King of England king, male monarch, Rex - a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom , but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces, as first general and admiral ... while that of the British king extends to the declaring of war and to the raising and regulating of fleets and armies -- all which, by the Constitution under consideration, would appertain ap·per·tain intr.v. ap·per·tained, ap·per·tain·ing, ap·per·tains To belong as a proper function or part; pertain: problems appertaining to social reform. to the legislature." Alexander Hamilton The Federalist Papers Federalist papers formally The Federalist Eighty-five essays on the proposed Constitution of the United States and the nature of republican government, published in 1787–88 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in an effort to persuade , No. 69 "The United States of America UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The name of this country. The United States, now thirty-one in number, are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, has the sovereign authority to use force in assuring its own national security. That duty falls to me, as Commander-in-Chief, by the oath I have sworn, by the oath I will keep." President George W. Bush Address to the nation, March 17, 2003 "It is the province and duty of the Executive to preserve to the Nation the blessings of peace. The Legislature alone can interrupt those blessings, by placing the Nation in a state of War." Alexander Hamilton Pacificus #1, June 29, 1793 "I swore to protect and defend the Constitution; that's what I swore to do. I put my hand on the Bible and took that oath, and that's exactly what I am going to do." President George W. Bush Responding to a question about Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (born April 28, 1937, Tikrit, Iraq—died Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad) President of Iraq (1979–2003). He joined the Ba'th Party in 1957. Following participation in a failed attempt to assassinate Iraqi Pres. in a national press conference, March 6, 2003 "Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our [1787] Convention [which drafted the Constitution] understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us." Abraham Lincoln Letter to William Herndon William Herndon may refer to:
February 15, 1848 Contrary to widespread misconception, the power to declare war is tantamount to the power to make war. The Founding Fathers chose the wording they did to allow the president to respond immediately to a sudden attack without violating the Constitution. Of course, Congress has had plenty of time to act regarding the question of going to war against Iraq. -- Editor "The Constitutional Convention at first proposed to give Congress the power to 'make' war but changed this to 'declare' war, not, however, because it was desired to enlarge Presidential power but in order to permit the President to take action to repel re·pel v. re·pelled, re·pel·ling, re·pels v.tr. 1. To ward off or keep away; drive back: repel insects. 2. sudden attacks." Senate Foreign Relations Foreign relations may refer to:
"Mr. Madison and Mr. Gerry moved to insert 'declare,' striking out [the congressional power to] 'make' war; leaving to the Executive the power to repel sudden attacks. "Mr. Sherman thought it stood very well. The Executive should be able to repel and not to commence war.... "Mr. Gerry never expected to hear in a republic a motion to empower the Executive alone to declare war.... "Mr. Mason was against giving the power of war to the Executive, because not safely to be trusted with it.... He was for clogging rather than facilitating war; but for facilitating peace. He preferred 'declare' to 'make.'" Madison's Notes on the Constitutional Convention, 1787 A president may not circumvent the congressional power to declare war by creating conditions leading to war. -- Editor "No power but Congress can declare war; but what is the value of this constitutional provision, if the President of his own authority may make such military movements as must bring on war?... [T]hese remarks originate purely in a desire to maintain the powers of government as they are established by the Constitution between the different departments, and a hope that, whether we have conquests or no conquests, war or no war, peace or no peace, we shall yet preserve, in its integrity and strength, the Constitution of the United States Constitution of the United States, document embodying the fundamental principles upon which the American republic is conducted. Drawn up at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the Constitution was signed on Sept. ." Daniel Webster Speech in Philadelphia, December 2, 1846 George W. Bush is not the first president to usurp u·surp v. u·surped, u·surp·ing, u·surps v.tr. 1. To seize and hold (the power or rights of another, for example) by force and without legal authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. 2. congressional war powers. But past usurpations do not justify future ones. Just as it was wrong for President Clinton to go to war without a declaration of war (as he did in the Balkans and elsewhere), so it is wrong for President Bush. -- Editor |
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