Throughout the last several decades the power of the presidency in relation to the other branches of government has grown enormously both at home and abroad. This research examines the recent expansion of presidential authority in send American troops into combat situations in foreign affairs. Presidential usurpations of military power will be discussed, with special attention given to the relevance and the constitutionality of the 1973 War Powers Act.
Presidential War Powers Surprise Congress
The United States is now well entrenched in attempting to aid the United Nations forces in Bosnia bring that region's conflict to a close. It is not at all clear whether the United Nations, even with American support, will succeed. And even if it appears that peace is at hand, it is not at all clear whether the ethnic factions in the former Yugoslav republic will remain at peace once the troops leave.
It is these uncertainties with military action in foreign affairs that ushered into existence in the United States the War Powers Act of 1973. Rarely does it appear that military intervention abroad produces the desired results. If Americans are uncertain what U.S. troops are doing in Bosnia, American members of Congress are bewildered as well.
As far as political risks in foreign affairs go, the decision by President Clinton on May 31, 1995 was startling. Without consulting any of the congressional leaders of either party, the president announced not only that he was prepared to fulfill and earlier agreement to help the United Nations withdraw its weary peacekeepers from Bosnia, but also that he was ready to send American troops to help U.N. forces regroup and continue as a military presence in the region for months, maybe years, to come. What was popularly received by the United Nations as no less than an announcement that the "Yanks are coming," joining what many in Congress considered a hopeless U.N. operation, was receiv...