Channels, Spring 2019

Page 30 Wilt • The President, Foreign Policy The President, Foreign Policy, and War Powers: A Survey on the Expansions and Setbacks of Presidential Power Michael Wilt History and Government Introduction ow powerful is the President of the United States in the arena of foreign policy? This question has opened many discussions and debates as to the extent of the president’s actual power. To make matters more complicated, the United States’ foreign policy has developed and evolved over the course of the country’s history. These foreign policy concerns and international conflicts have mired the presidency into debates and consistent trials over the constitutional extent of the presidency, specifically concerning presidential war powers. Moreover, the presidents have varied in their approaches to each of these international policy concerns and conflicts. From President George Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793, to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution under President Lyndon Johnson’s guise, to the Iran-Contra Affair and Cold War policies of the Reagan Administration, American presidents have varied on their outlook of their role in foreign policymaking and international conflict resolution. The goal of this research paper is not to definitively limit the various branches of the federal government on their responsibilities, as the Constitution allows for flexibility. Rather, the goal of this research paper is to understand the constitutional underpinnings of the president’s role in foreign policy and war making in relation to the separation of powers and checks and balances delineated in the Constitution, survey the history of the presidents’ foreign policy approaches from George Washington to Ronald Reagan, examine how various presidents have contributed to the expansion of executive involvement in foreign affairs – as well as international military conflict – in a historical context. Constitutional Aspects to Consider Legally speaking, the U.S. Constitution defines certain parameters, in which the office of president must work. These roles are explained in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, which reads: 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 shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors. 1 Section 3 of Article II continues the discussion of the president’s constitutional powers concerning foreign policy: “He shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.” 2 These 1 Article II, Section 2, U.S. Constitution. 2 Article II, Section 3, U.S. Constitution. H