i ntroduction 11presidents fi nd themselves bereft of strategic options, with little latitude
to alter the course of the war they initiated?
Th e Constitutional Framework
To begin to address these puzzles, we should consider fi rst the broader
contexts of wartime presidential leadership. One is a constant: for more
than two centuries, the Constitution has invested presidents with a
broad warrant to act on matters of national security. Th e document’s
ambiguities and silences have enticed presidents to expand their
capacity to undertake military operations on their own initiative. Situ-
ations often arise in which “strict construction”—a literal reading of the
wording—cannot fi x the extent of presidential authority. Politicians
and scholars have argued heatedly about the proper limits of presi-
dential war powers. Without question, however, the underlying logic of
the constitutional system endows presidents with the means to win that
argument when they think the nation faces a threat to its security.
The authors of the Constitution sought to divide war-making
authority and the power to direct war. Article II, which most directly
defines the role and powers of the chief executive, unifies military
direction in the hands of the president. Th e fi rst power listed is to serve
as the commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces, including the
militia when called into national service. During the Revolution the
new nation had barely survived the inefficiency of congressional
direction of military aff airs, which brought Washington’s army to the
brink of starvation more than once. Military operations also had been
hampered by uncertainty about whether states would release their own
troops for duty in other states facing a direct British military threat. Th e
Framers remembered and chose to make plain that the chain of
command leads directly to the president. In a constitutional system
otherwise characterized by elaborate institutional checks, the president
may act as commander in chief without securing approval from any
other branch.
Congress is given the power to create and regulate the nation’s mil-
itary capacity, as well as to declare war. Under Article I, Congress gains
clear authority to establish and fi nance the nation’s armed forces, to
summon state militia into service to repel foreign attack and put down