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I believe that World War II was the last time America declared war. Yet we have engaged in many long and short military conflicts since then. Does it all boil down to presidential power or can the legislature actually put an end to conflicts if it were so inclined?
°Õ³ó±ð°ù±ðÌýis no clear answer to this question. President Johnson and the Republican Congress in 1865 and 1866 debated who had the power to declare the Civil War had ended. The questions that debate raised have never been decisively resolved. The questions are even more difficult when we talk about military actions that a President claims are not wars or are presidential responses to acts of war. The legislature can clearly end wars by refusing to pay for troops and weapons, but that seems unrealistic. In short, we are in an undefined and unresolved constitutional zone.
