Channels, Spring 2019

Page 44 Wilt • The President, Foreign Policy found powers he had been granted by Congress. He forged an alliance with the nations of Great Britain and the Soviet Union, known simply as the Allied Powers. This partnership led to a successful coalition to defeat Italy and Germany from multiple fronts. President Roosevelt also managed to pull together a strong team of military leaders and spearheaded a victorious military strategy. He also became the first president to win re-election to a third term, defeating Wendell Willkie in 1940. President Roosevelt’s real strength lay in his ability to effectively communicate with the American people, as he did during the ‘Fireside Chats’. With radios in millions of homes across America, Roosevelt was able to share his policies and agenda with millions of Americans; through this medium, he displayed his desire to lead the American people to victory. He, however, overstepped his constitutional authority and placed Japanese-Americans in internment camps. Executive Order 9066 was signed a few months following the Pearl Harbor attacks, fresh on the minds of all Americans. He called for all Japanese-Americans from military areas to be removed and relocated; the military subsequently deemed a majority of the West Coast – heavily populated by Japanese-Americans – as a military area. Millions of Japanese-Americans endured horrifying living conditions and received inadequate treatment. President Roosevelt grossly abused his constitutional powers, and the Supreme Court supported his decision on the grounds of national security and marshal law. In Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), President Roosevelt’s decision to authorize the creation of “military zones” for the purposes of controlling certain areas – and certain people groups – was upheld by the Supreme Court as a legitimate extension of the “power to protect,” as well as “to prevent espionage and sabotage.” 57 Such an abuse of presidential power is obvious in retrospect, and should serve as a warning to posterity. Presidents since have followed Roosevelt and Wilson’s examples by pursuing more integration into the global stage. President Truman led the conclusion of World War II by using the ultimate presidential military power: the dropping of the atomic bomb – twice. This extension of executive power culminated and – some argue – allowed the president to reach the apogee of presidential power. During the war, President Truman made his stance clear: if necessary, the United States would drop the bomb in order to speed up the conclusion of the war. To the Soviet Union, Truman displayed the terrible and awesome power of the nuclear power the United States of America held in its arsenal and signaled to the Soviet Union to tread lightly. Truman’s decision to drop the bomb signaled, void of congressional approval, that he had the legitimate power to drop the atomic bomb as president. Single-handedly, President Truman’s deployment of the atomic bomb ushered in a swift arms race that would haunt both the United States and the Soviet Union in subsequent decades. Furthermore, Truman’s decision to drop the bomb highlights the civilian control over the military, and that the president could drop such a powerful weapon without congressional authorization. Moreover, President Truman led the charge of the free world against communism. In his congressional message to secure over $400 million from Congress, President Truman advocated for the support of nations like Turkey and Greece against the communist enticements. He stated, “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures,” 58 thereby ushering in the Truman Doctrine. His successful attempt to garner support for these nations from a Republican Congress led to an enduring bipartisan Cold War foreign policy approach, one that would be hotly contested, but 57 Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944). O’Brien, David. Constitutional Law and Politics: Struggles for Power and Governmental Accountability, Volume 1 (Ninth Edition). W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 2014. 58 Truman, Harry S. “The Truman Doctrine.” Evolving Presidency , edited by Michael Nelson, Los Angeles: Sage Books, 2016. Pages 158-163.