THE POLK PRECEDENT
Bit by bit, subsequent presidents expanded their power to employ force unilaterally. James K. Polk, belittled initially as a mediocrity, did more. On the basis of a contrived crisis that Abraham Lincoln and other Whig opponents called a lie, he led the nation in war of aggression against Mexico. South Carolinian John C. Calhoun denounced Polk's tactic as "monstrous" because "it stripped Congress of the power of making war." Calhoun viewed it as setting a precedent for future presidents to maneuver Congress into declaring war "however opposed to its convictions of justice or expediency." Nonetheless, in keeping with popular sentiment eager for hostilities and expansion, a majority in Congress backed Polk.
Despite Lincoln's condemnation of Polk, in fighting the Civil War he, too, stretched the president's military power beyond constitutional limits. Lincoln justified his behavior as within his alleged authority as commander in chief. "Whether strictly legal or not," he explained, he acted out of necessity to save the Union. He prevailed because both the public and congress supported him. Scholars defend him because they considered his goals noble. He set as precedent, the dubious theory that in times of crises congress and the courts should defer to the president and that he should dominate the government.
Bit by bit, subsequent presidents expanded their power to employ force unilaterally. James K. Polk, belittled initially as a mediocrity, did more. On the basis of a contrived crisis that Abraham Lincoln and other Whig opponents called a lie, he led the nation in war of aggression against Mexico. South Carolinian John C. Calhoun denounced Polk's tactic as "monstrous" because "it stripped Congress of the power of making war." Calhoun viewed it as setting a precedent for future presidents to maneuver Congress into declaring war "however opposed to its convictions of justice or expediency." Nonetheless, in keeping with popular sentiment eager for hostilities and expansion, a majority in Congress backed Polk.
Despite Lincoln's condemnation of Polk, in fighting the Civil War he, too, stretched the president's military power beyond constitutional limits. Lincoln justified his behavior as within his alleged authority as commander in chief. "Whether strictly legal or not," he explained, he acted out of necessity to save the Union. He prevailed because both the public and congress supported him. Scholars defend him because they considered his goals noble. He set as precedent, the dubious theory that in times of crises congress and the courts should defer to the president and that he should dominate the government.