Unilateral presidential war making, remarkable for its direct violation of the War Clause of the Constitution, is a sharp reminder of the widening gulf between constitutional principle and governmental practice. It recalls the observation of a 17th Century English judge: âThe practice of government is but feeble proof of its legality.â
Since 1950, every president, with the exception of Dwight Eisenhower has asserted authority to initiate war and lesser military hostilities on behalf of the American people, despite the fact that the Constitution vests the war power in Congress. Presidential claims to such sweeping authority, from Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia, to Grenada, Iraq and Libya, shatter upon analysis, and represent a teaching moment.
Drinking from a firehose: The media and politics in 2020
It s a fine line, but when Forum News Service talked with a number of sources to understand where things stood with the media, they said holding institutions and people accountable still mattered. 9:00 am, Dec. 27, 2020 ×
The media risers overlooking President Trump supporters at Trump s rally at the Duluth International Airport on Sept. 30, 2020. (Samantha Erkkila / serkkila@duluthnews.com)
DULUTH President Donald Trump was bound for Duluth.
And when he arrived Sept. 30, Samantha Erkkila was there as a multimedia producer, a job that sometimes finds her creating videos of news events for the Duluth News Tribune.
Drinking from a firehose: The media and politics in 2020
It s a fine line, but when Forum News Service talked with a number of sources to understand where things stood with the media, they said holding institutions and people accountable still mattered. 9:00 am, Dec. 27, 2020 ×
The media risers overlooking President Trump supporters at Trump s rally at the Duluth International Airport on Sept. 30, 2020. (Samantha Erkkila / serkkila@duluthnews.com)
DULUTH President Donald Trump was bound for Duluth.
And when he arrived Sept. 30, Samantha Erkkila was there as a multimedia producer, a job that sometimes finds her creating videos of news events for the Duluth News Tribune.
David Adler: Congress holds power to go to war bismarcktribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bismarcktribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Americans have become accustomed to a steady drumbeat of presidential assertions of sweeping powers in the realm of foreign affairs and national security. They may be surprised to learn, however, that these claims are inconsistent with the constitutional blueprint for foreign relations, which vests the lionâs share of authority in Congress, not the president.
The arrangement for foreign affairs reflects the Constitutional Conventionâs preference for collective decision-making and its fear of unilateral executive power. As a result, Congress is assigned senior status in a partnership with the president for the formulation, management, and conduct of American foreign policy. But this design has been overwhelmed in the years since World War II by expansive claims of presidential power that have laid the basis for a presidential monopoly over foreign affairs and advanced a conception of executive authority so broad that it has produced a wide gulf between constitutional princi