The President of the United States

For your Week Four Forum assignment, we will discuss “presidential power” with an emphasis
on a president’s use of “war powers”—that is, the deployment, commitment and use of American
military forces in conflict abroad. During the Vietnam Conflict, Presidents Johnson and Nixon
employed hundreds of thousands of combat forces in Southeast Asia without approval of Congress.
Eventually, Congress felt compelled to pass the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Presidents have
claimed that the War Powers Resolution infringes on their constitutional power as Commander-in-
Chief and, consequently, most presidents have not followed this law. This has caused a rift between the president and Congress that still exists today.

The first two questions ask you to research some background information on the presidency and
presidential power to prepare you to answer the primary question (#3) in the Forum assignment:

1. What was the vision and role of the presidency held by the Founding Fathers as expressed in the
Federalist Papers and the Constitution?

2. Summarize the specific responsibilities, duties, authorities and power of the president as
outlined in the Constitution.

3. Describe and explain how the president’s use of “war powers” (the deployment, commitment and use of American military forces in conflict abroad) has changed and evolved over the last several decades. Explain and give examples of how presidents have interpreted and used these powers. Research and discuss any identifiable trends in its use, growth, and expansion. (For example: How have “war powers” been used? Is the use of “war powers” strictly the president’s call? What is Congress’s role? Are the restrictions in the War Powers Resolution of 1973 realistic? How should this issue be resolved?)

There is no text book for this class you can use the weekly lesson and other internet sources for this

assignment.

Link for weekly lesson.

https://edge.apus.edu/portal/site/239644/page/c7e1fa74-2c94-413c-980a-b4e3b442cd4f