POTUS AS COMMANDER IN CHIEFMr. Geib and Mr. Fitz-Patrick

12th Grade Gov. and Econ.

April 15, 2023

THE CONSTITUTION• President might run the

military…– Generals, admirals, policy,

etc.• …but Congress only can

declare war.• President MAKES war,

but only Congress can START a war.

• Then there is the reality today…. FDR asks Congress for a Declaration

of War on December 8, 1942.

BLURRING THE LEGAL LINES

• Indefinite detention– “Extraordinary rendition”– “Enhanced interrogation”– Guantanamo Bay

• “Enemy combatants”

Protestors in front of White House decry Guantanamo detainees.

THE BLURRING OF WAR AND PEACE

A drone strike Tuesday in Yemen targeted al Qaeda members in August 2013. 

BLURRING THE LEGAL LINES• “Extrajudicial killings”

– Drone strikes in tribal areas of Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.

– American citizen– No accountability for

POTUS?

Anwar al-Awlaki killed September

30, 2011

BLURRING THE LEGAL LINES

• Difficult Questions:– Self-defense? “Illegal”

actions?– Can the President order

the assassination of an American citizen without any other input (Congress, Supreme Court)

THE BLURRING OF WAR AND PEACE

President Obama and NSA staff watch in real time the assassination of Osama bin Laden by Navy SEALS in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.

THE BLURRING OF WAR AND PEACE

President Obama announces death of Osama bin Laden.