[Peace-discuss] BHO as commander-in-chief

[C. G. Estabrook]

Perhaps someone will point out that BHO is neither your commander-in-chief nor mine.

The 1787 constitution (presumably in force) makes the president c-in-c of the 
United States' armed forces only - and he was originally so designated to deal 
with people like Daniel Shays and his friends - whom I would have supported (see 
Gore Vidal's essay. "Homage to Daniel Shays") :

"...the president shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of the United 
States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual 
service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the 
principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to 
grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in 
cases of impeachment" [article two, section two, clause one of the 1787 
constitution].

But article one gives Congress and not the president the authority to declare 
war. Presidents have nevertheless deployed troops with some form of arguable 
Congressional authorization, but without an explicit declaration of war - not 
apparently what the framers had in mind, according to The Federalist Papers. The 
Korean War, e.g., was only retroactively deemed a war - 50 years to the day, 
after the fact - by a ceremonial Act of Congress.


On 1/25/11 3:25 PM, Ron Szoke wrote:
> February 4 @ 12 noon
> PRESIDENT OBAMA AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF
> Ryan Hendrickson, Professor of Political Science, Eastern Illinois University
>
> The talk examines how President Obama and his administration view their
> authority to use force abroad, and the extent to which Congress has
> exercised its own constitutional war powers against the commander in
> chief. The research suggests that Obama has been very much like his
> predecessors in how he envisions the president's authority to use force, as
> Congress has generally remained deferential to Obama's military
> leadership.
>
> http://www.universityymca.org/fridayforum/
>
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