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There is a lot of confusion, on right and left alike, regarding the presidential powers over military affairs under the United States constitution. In the evolution of presidential powers in military, the constitutional provisions limited the early presidency and throughout 1800s until the 1930s, congress was still the national government’s dominating branch. The constitution assigned the president with the military power by naming him a civilian, the commander in chief of the armed forces. The founders prevented the military general from seizing the government thus they were mindful of balancing the power (Bradley, Curtis, & Trevor Morrison, 2013).
Presidential powers on military have expanded throughout United States history to meet the evolving challenges of security. The 9/11 attack changed the landscape of American foreign policy and raised the presidential power on areas of war. It changed believe that president needs more power in times of war as wars need fast response.
American armed forces have been sent and will always be sent overseas to maintain peace in nations facing civil wars. Their presence overseas also ensures protection of important supply of necessities like in Middle East where they protect the supply of oil. Every American military base abroad supports either overall regional stability or a specific security goal.
The American public support has been widely held to be a critical perquisite for allowing military action abroad. Although many Americans have not shown full support of the military operations abroad, it has not hindered their undertaking in the past neither does not prove much to be a future barrier. Despite the need to keep American soldiers abroad, many Americans still oppose the idea. The foreign bases discourage diplomatic conflict solutions as they increase military tensions. They have also laid a burden to the American government due to the continued increase in the military expenditure (Cooley & Alexander, 2012).
Work cited
Bradley, Curtis A., and Trevor W. Morrison. “Presidential Power, Historical Practice, and Legal Constraint.” Columbia Law Review (2013): 1097-1161.
Cooley, Alexander. Base politics: democratic change and the US military overseas. Cornell University Press, 2012.