Presidential war power

A classic and bestselling work by one of America's top Constitutional scholars, Presidential War Power garnered the lead review in the New York Times Book Review and raised essential issues that have only become more timely, relevant, and controversial in our post-9/11 era.

In this third edition, Louis Fisher updates his arguments throughout, critiques the presidential actions of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and challenges what he views as their dangerous expansion of executive power. Spanning the life of the Republic from the Revolutionary Era to the War on Terror, the new edition covers for the first time:



n Indefinite detention of civilians and non-civilians without trial

n President Obama's failed effort to close Guantánamo

n NSA wiretapping and Fourth Amendment violations

n Presidential decision-making relating to the wind-down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

n U.S. military operations against Libya in 2011

n Continued abuse of the state secrets privilege in national security court cases

n Secret legal memos justifying the use of UAVs or drones for targeted killings overseas

n Extended comparison of the expansion of executive power under George W. Bush and Barack Obama

• Preface p. xiii
• Note on Citations p. xix
• 1 The Constitutional Framework p. 1
• The British Models p. 1
• Opposing Monarchical Powers p. 3
• Associated War Powers p. 6
• Repelling Sudden Attacks p. 8
• Separating Purse and Sword p. 11
• Commander in Chief p. 12
• Scholarly Analysis p. 14
• 2 Precedents from 1789 to 1900 p. 17
• Indian Wars p. 17
• President as p. 20
• The Whiskey Rebellion p. 22
• Quasi-War with France p. 23
• Neutrality Act Prosecutions p. 26
• The p. 31
• Barbary Wars p. 32
• The War of 1812 p. 37
• The Mexican War p. 38
• Bombarding Greytown p. 44
• The Civil War p. 47
• Spanish-American War p. 51
• 3 America Steps Out 1900-1945 p. 55
• Protecting Life and Property p. 56
• President Wilson's Forays p. 60
• Intervention in Nicaragua p. 63
• World War I p. 65
• The Curtiss-Wright Case p. 68
• Legislative Constraints in the 1930s p. 72
• World War II p. 74
• 4 The UN Charter and Korea p. 80
• The League of Nations p. 80
• Creating the UN Charter p. 83
• The UN Participation Act p. 90
• Vandenberg Resolution p. 94
• The Korean War p. 95
• Political Repercussions p. 99
• 5 Taking Stock: 1951-1964 p. 104
• Mutual Security Treaties p. 104
• NATO's Legislative History p. 106
• The p. 110
• The Steel Seizure Case p. 114
• Eisenhower's Philosophy p. 116
• Area Resolutions p. 117
• Kennedy Reasserts Executive Power p. 124
• 6 Vietnam and the War Powers Resolution p. 127
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution p. 128
• Was There a Second Attack? p. 131
• Escalation of the War p. 132
• Free World Forces p. 135
• National Commitments Resolution of 1969 p. 137
• Disputes in the Courts p. 139
• The War Powers Resolution p. 144
• Analyzing the WPR p. 148
• Efforts to Amend the WPR p. 150
• 7 Military Initiatives from Ford to Bush I p. 154
• Evacuations from Southeast Asia p. 154
• The Mayaguez Capture p. 156
• Desert One Rescue Effort p. 158
• Lebanon p. 159
• Invasion of Grenada p. 161
• Air Strikes against Libya p. 163
• Escort Operations in the Persian Gulf p. 164
• Panama p. 165
• The Gulf War p. 168
• 8 Military Actions by Clinton p. 174
• Launching Missiles against Baghdad p. 174
• Combat Operations in Somalia p. 176
• Troops to Haiti p. 178
• Air Strikes in Bosnia p. 181
• Ground Troops to Bosnia p. 185
• Continued Strikes against Iraq p. 191
• Afghanistan and Sudan p. 195
• War against Yugoslavia p. 197
• 9 George W. Bush p. 201
• The Preemption Doctrine p. 201
• Military Tribunals p. 203
• Military Action in Afghanistan p. 207
• War against Iraq p. 209
• Making the Case for War p. 210
• Enlisting Legislative Support p. 213
• Unsubstantiated Executive Claims p. 216
• Voting on the Iraq Resolution p. 222
• Military Operations in Iraq p. 227
• Doctoring Intelligence Reports p. 229
• 10 Barack Obama p. 233
• Closing Guantanamo p. 233
• Withdrawing U.S. Troops from Iraq p. 236
• Options in Afghanistan p. 237
• Military Intervention in Libya p. 238
• Invoking the State Secrets Privilege p. 247
• Electronic Surveillance p. 251
• Military Detention without Trial p. 252
• Targeted Killings p. 260
• 11 Covert Operations p. 266
• Seeds of Secrecy p. 266
• Early Departures from Openness p. 267
• The Intelligence Community p. 271
• Statutory Controls on the CIA p. 275
• Covert Action in the Open p. 278
• The Iran-Contra Affair p. 282
• Congressional Reforms p. 286
• Actions against Terrorism p. 288
• 12 Restoring Checks and Balances p. 291
• Contemporary Justifications p. 291
• Jackson's Zone of Twilight p. 295
• Revisiting War Powers p. 297
• Consultation p. 298
• A Forbidden Legislative Veto? p. 299
• Compelling Court Action p. 302
• Statutory Restrictions p. 304
• Thinking National Interest p. 306
• Appendices p. 313
• A Framers' Debate on the War Power p. 313
• B Constitutional Allocation of Foreign Affairs and the War Power p. 315
• C UN Participation Act of 1945 p. 317
• D 1949 Amendments to UN Participation Act p. 318
• E War Powers Resolution of 1973 p. 320
• Suggested Readings p. 325
• Index of Cases p. 345
• Subject Index p. 349