shock on Capitol Hill, where not even the chairs of the congressional foreign affairs and armed services committees had been informed. "We received no notification," said Senator Strom Thurmond, chair of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, who learned about the new foreign policy on television (Dettmer, 1995, p. 8).
The debate between Congress and the President as to which branch of government may declare war is not new. As far back as the 19th century, President John Quincy Adams observed that the "respective powers of the presidency and Congress in the case of war with foreign powers are yet undetermined. Perhaps they can never be defined" (Dettmer, 1995, p. 8). Clearly, however, founders of the U.S. Constitution intended some degree of sharing authority in the commitment of troops abroad. According to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress shall have the power "to declare war," "to raise and support an army," and "to provide and maintain a navy." But doubts still arise because in Article II, Section 2, the Constitution declares that the president "shall be the commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States." Ambiguity is present as to the respective powers of these two branches in entering hostilities, but a sharing of power is implied.
Throughout the years, presidents have used Article II of the U.S. Constitution to dominate the process of initiating
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