courts and presidents. This skeleton-like wording leaves it up to an aggressive chief executive and a willing Supreme Court to shape the actual parameters of such powers. In effect, history has rewritten the Constitution. The words are flexible enough to mean different things in different situation. On the whole though, a more expansive view of presidential power has taken precedence over a more restrictive view. The history of the meaning of presidential power through the Constitution has been one of the expansion of power and the enlargement of the meaning of the words of the Constitution.The numerous "undeclared wars" of the twentieth century also presented an avenue for Congress to supress the executive. The widespread disapproval of the Vietnam War was the last straw for American legislators. Congress felt the need to limit the president's ability to engage in military conflicts with forgein lands without their consent. The War Powers Resolution, passed in 1973, created their desired limitations. This act required that any use of American troops in potentially hostile situations must be reported to Congress. In addition, the military action must stop within sixty days of the submission of the report, and that Congress can end the use of the military at any time by passing a concurrent resolution, which is not subject to a presidential veto (Edwards 480).Since its passage, this Act has been overlooked on numerous occassions. Many military actions have occurred: the evacuations from Southeast Asia (1975), the rescue of the Mayaquez from Cambodia (1975), the Iran hostage rescue (1980), the invasion of Grenada (1983), and the Persian Gulf conflicts (1991 and 1998) (Edwards 480). Each of these instances went unreported to Congress, except for the Persian Gulf. Yet, Bush was criticized for waiting until the last minute to appear before Congress.President Bush clearly fullfilled his constitutional obligations, for he sought ...
