The National Defense Council
As the bloody struggle in Iraq drags on, gray haired Americans hear echoes of Vietnam. In both conflicts our commander in chief ordered massive troop deployments under questionable pretenses with lukewarm support from the country. Modern presidents believe that they have the right to invade other countries on their own accord. But when it comes to this most critical decision, the U.S. Constitution is unambiguous; Article 1, Section 8 (11) states: “Congress shall have the power … to declare war.”
In fact, our founding fathers despised the trappings of royalty and never intended to create a British style empire on American soil. Many had grave doubts about how future commanders in chief would exercise their authority over the military. So they purposely limited executive branch autonomy. However the perilous times called for an unambiguous military chain of command.
The American patriots were mostly farmers who found themselves overmatched in a battle against the heavily fortified British Army. The redcoats enjoyed superior firepower, but the colonists prevailed on their home soil thanks to strong leadership and a tenacious fighting force. Handing the military reins over to a battlefield ready president like George Washington made sense at the time.
With Great Britain posing an ongoing threat, the framers sought to unify the countries’ fighting forces behind a democratically elected leader. Back then, state militias did not report to the federal government. But the federalists won out over states’ rights proponents. The final draft of the Constitution gives the president commander in chief authority over the Army, the Navy and all of the militias. This top down defense management structure avoids leadership rivalries within the military.
The colonists’ concerns about an attack from across the pond were well founded. British troops invaded the United States and burned much of Washington DC to the ground during the War of 1812. Our homeland hasn’t been seriously jeopardized by a foreign entity since then.
Our founding fathers never expected that presidents’ would one day ignore the first page of the Constitution. They did not anticipate the role of commander in chief becoming a full time occupation during amorphous, never ending “wars” not declared on any particular country. The option of creating a corporate style military board of directors or elected war council never came up. Congress was expected to take the lead in this arena.
Successful private organizations are supervised by a board of directors. So while the chief executive officer manages day to day operations of the company, the directors retain ultimate control. Major investment of human and financial resources requires approval by the full board of directors, based on advice from the CEO. When it comes to direction of the US military, all we have is the CEO.
Transferring commander in chief responsibilities to an elected National Defense Council would promote lasting standards in the use of our Armed Forces and continuity in our worldwide strategic alliances. Such a group would be less vulnerable to personal distractions and less likely to use overseas deployments as a diversion from domestic political problems.
Commander In Chief, Constitution, Founding Fathers, War Powers
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