Essay On War Powers

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

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 It also sets rules and laws, such as forces must be withdrawn in 60 days if not approved by congress.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