Recognizing War in the United States via the Interagency Process

摘要

With these simple statements, the Constitution of United States grants the Congress the power to declare war and gives the President the role of Commander in Chief of the armed forces. In the 215 years since the Constitution was written, Congress has formally declared war only five times, while Presidents have committed U.S. forces under their authority as Commander in Chief countless additional times without any declaration of war. These commitments have sometimes created tension between the President and Congress, especially when troops are exposed to combat conditions akin to war. Events of the 20th Century only exacerbated this tension, and culminated in the enactment of the War Powers Act by Congress in 1973 in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. This act attempted to clarify and amplify the Constitutional roles of the President and Congress when the nation's armed forces are committed to actual or potentially hostile or combat conditions. Despite.