Declaring War

Jan 5, 2020, 6:26 PM

The United States Congress has not formally declared war since World War II. There have only been 11 instances of declaring war, almost all of which are during WW2. The President can MAKE war but cannot DECLARE war. “The president has the power to initiate hostilities without consulting Congress.” There are limits to these conflicts. Presidents can and have engaged in plenty of conflicts. They don’t include the civil war, korea, vietnam, grenada, panama, the balkans, the gulf, … any. Engaging in conflict is different from war, because war powers convey DOMESTIC powers to the president.