SHANK FOREIGN
POLICY STUDY GUIDE (4)
When the framers wrote the Constitution they gave
Congress the power to declare war in Article I. Article II grants authority to the
President to be commander in chief of the armed forces. This is part of what the separation of powers principal to avoid
concentration of power in one person’s hands.
They felt that this separation of
powers would provide a check and balance of the power of both the President
and Congress. It was designed this way
so the President would have to ask Congress to declare war. In our history, the President has only asked
Congress to declare war five times.
However, Presidents have initiated small and large scale military
actions without first going to Congress.
These have included police actions such as sending troops into hostile
foreign territories during the Cold War.
One example was President
Truman’s sending US air, naval and ground forces to South Korea to resist
military action from Communist North Korea without asking Congress. A second example was when President Kennedy ordered military
action against Cuba without letting Congress
know.
A2. Separation of powers provides a check and
balance for whom?
A3. Why did the Constitutional framers create
separation of powers?
A4. What article gives Congress the power to
declare war?
A5. What article authorizes the President to be
commander in chief of the armed
forces?
A6. Does the president have the power to declare
war?
A7. Which president sent US troops to South
Korea?
B. Congress
approved the War Powers Act in 1973 in response to President Nixon’s action to bomb Cambodia
during the Vietnam War. The purpose
of this act was for the president to consult Congress before sending US troops
to hostile territories. This act gives
Congress a position to negotiate with the president regarding how long troops
will remain and when they will be returned from military action. The War Powers Act required the president to
return troops within sixty days. If the
president does not act accordingly to this, he must ask and explain to Congress
the purpose for the extension.
President Nixon and president
Clinton have opposed the War Powers
Act because they believe it is an intrusion on their constitutional power to
act as commander in chief.
B1. What is the War Powers Act?
B4. During what war did President Nixon order to
bomb Cambodia?
B5. What is the required time for the president
to return U.S. troops?
B6. If the president does not return troops
within the required length of time, what must
he do?
The
Constitution gives the president authority to act as chief of the
armed forces. US presidents
believed that it is their inherent power to send troops overseas if they
believe that the US national security interest is threatened. Communist North Korea invaded anti-Communist
South Korea in hope to unite all of Korea under communist rule. President Truman in 1950 did not ask Congress to declare war against North Korea. As authorized by the United Nations, he sent U.S. Air,
Naval and ground forces to aid South
Korea against North Korea’s invasion.
Truman wanted to contain
the spread of communism. Truman told
Congress that his actions were in the interests of US foreign policy.
C3. What part of Korea is under Communist rule?
C4. What part of Korea is anti-Communist?
C5. Who sent U.S. military forces to assist
South Korea?
C6. What country invaded South Korea?
C7. What organization authorized the use of U.S.
air, naval and ground forces in Korea?
C8. What was the goal of Communist North Korea
when it invaded South Korea?
President Eisenhower sought approval from
Congress to support US military involvement in the Middle East. Congress approved the Eisenhower Doctrine, which authorized the president to use U.S.
troops to assist Middle East nations
that were requesting help against communist threats. President Eisenhower used his authority to send U.S.
troops to Lebanon in 1957 during the
Cold War.
D1. Which president sought approval from
Congress to involve U.S. troops in Middle
East?
D3. Which American President sent troops to the
Middle East in 1957?
D4. Why did the Middle East nation request help
from U.S.?
D5. President Eisenhower sent U.S. troops to
what country?
President
Kennedy ordered a naval blockade
around Cuba in 1962 to prevent
Soviet ships from bringing missiles to Cuba.
He ordered military action without notifying Congress. The Cuban
missile crisis brought U.S. and the Soviet
Union to the brink of World War III.
President Kennedy felt that secrecy and quick decisiveness was needed to
convince the Soviets to stop arming Cuba with nuclear missiles.
E1. Which American president ordered a naval
blockade around Cuba?
E2. What country did the president prevent from
bringing missiles to Cuba?
E3. What event almost brought U.S. and Soviet
Union to the verge of World War III?
E4. What was President Kennedy’s purpose for not informing Congress about the naval
blockage in Cuba?
F. Evolution of Presidential War Powers: Presidents Johnson and Nixon
In
1964, Congress approved Johnson’s Gulf
of Tonkin Resolution. Because of this
resolution, Johnson sent a massive number of US troops and materials to support
anti-Communist South Vietnam in its warfare against Communist North
Vietnam. President Nixon took office in 1969, he promised to reduce U.S. involvement
in Vietnam. However, he secretly bombed
Cambodia. The Communist North
Vietnam invaded South Vietnam to unite under communist rule. In 1971, Congress approved legislation to
end the Vietnam War and to withdraw
U.S. military forces from Vietnam.
After their removal by President Nixon, South Vietnam fell to Communist
North. South Vietnam and North Vietnam
was united under Communist rule.
F1. What resolution did Congress approve?
F4. What part of Vietnam is Communist?
F5. What country did President Nixon secretly
bomb?
F8. North and South Vietnam is united under what
party?
In
1975, during the Cold War Communist invaded Cambodia and captured an American ship, the Mayaguez. President Ford ordered an attack and sent U.S. troops to rescue the Mayaguez and its crewmembers. President Jimmy Carter sent a team in 1980 to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran however, failed because the aircraft
crashed. In 1982, before the Cold
War ended in 1989, President Reagan
sent marines to Lebanon as a
peacekeeping force.
G2. What American ship was captured by the
Communist in Cambodia?
G3. What president sent troops to rescue the
American ship and its crewmembers?
G5. What did President Carter attempt to do with U.S. hostages in Iran?
G6. Which U.S. president sent marines to
Lebanon?
G7. What year did the Cold War end?
H. Evolution of Presidential War Powers: President Bush
H1. Iraq invaded Iran during what war?
H2. What was the main goal of U.S. to prevent
Iran from becoming the dominant force
in the Gulf?
H4. Who was the military dictator of Iraq?
H5. What year did the Iran-Iraq war end?
H6. What country did Saddam invade in 1990?
H7. Who served as U.S. President during the
Persian Gulf War?
H8. What war had the largest military action
since the Vietnam War?
·
“Humaneness
in not killing fleeing, defenseless Iraqi troops.”
·
“Decisive
leadership at home and abroad.”
·
“Protecting
vital U.S. oil interests” (Shank, p.234).
·
“Leaving
Saddam in power and his WMD (weapons of mass destruction) intact.”
·
“Not
destroying the Republican Guard.”
·
“Urging
the Kurds and Shiites to topple the Iraqi dictator without giving them
·
support.”
·
“Ending
the war at 100 hours left many loose ends” (Shank, p.234).
In
1993, Congress demanded withdrawal of U.S. peacekeeping force in Somalia following rebel attacks on U.S.
troops and the downing of two U.S. helicopters. After eighteen U.S. Army Rangers were killed, Congress
approved a deadline to return the troops.
Clinton returned U.S. troops
within six months and in 1994 the presence of U.S. military in Somalia
ended. In 1994, Clinton ordered
military planes to transport troops to Haiti
to restore President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide to office. U.S. troops
arrived as peacekeeping rather than military force. Clinton deployed armed forces in the U.S. led NATO to intervene
military in Kosovo. In April 1999, the House voted to require
President Clinton to obtain Congressional approval before sending troops, but
refused to support NATO air
strikes. The House also rejected the
resolution to declare war against Yugoslavia. The Senate had earlier approved NATO air
strikes, but postponed action on resolution to give Clinton all authority to
win the war against Serbian
repression in Kosovo.
J3. Which American president sent troops to
Somalia and Haiti?
J5. What did the House refuse to support
President Clinton?
J6. The House refused to declare war against
what country?