Deck 5: The War-Making Presidency

Question 1

According to Edmund Randolph, one of the most important weaknesses of the government created in the Articles of Confederation was its inability to protect the nation against a foreign invasion.

Answer 1

True
Explanation:Randolph identified the fact that the Articles of Confederation "produced no security against foreign invasion" to be a leading defect of the charter.

Question 2

The original draft of the Constitution gave the Congress the power to "make" war, not to "declare" war.

Answer 2

True
Explanation:The Committee of Detail originally granted the legislature the power to "make" war, but after protests by Charles Pinckney and Pierce Butler about the inability of a legislative body to respond promptly to a foreign threat, support to give the executive this power grew and a motion proposed by Elbridge Gerry and James Madison was approved to change the phrase to "declare" war.

Question 3

In making the president commander-in-chief, the framers clearly intended to vet the president with the traditional prerogative of taking the nation into war.

Answer 3

False
Explanation:Most framers actually believed they had vested Congress with this power and it was not their intent to give the president this authority.

Question 4

The vesting clause in the Constitution declares that whenever federal and state policies on an issue conflict, the national legislation takes priority.

Question 5

The War Hawks were instrumental in pressuring President Jefferson to escalate the conflict with the Barbary pirates.

Question 6

Which of the following did President Truman not use to refer to the American military's engagement on the Korean peninsula?

A) The Korean War
B) The Korean Operation
C) The Korean Crisis
D) The Korean Situation

Question 7

Which war was Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality intended to prevent American involvement in?

A) The war between Britain and Spain
B) The war between France and Spain
C) The war between Britain and France
D) The war between France and Russia

Question 8

The annexation of which state prompted war with Mexico during the administration of James Polk?

A) Georgia
B) Texas
C) Florida
D) Louisiana

Question 9

Which of the following developments during the Civil War amounted to a watershed moment in the development of presidential authority?

A) The Crittenden-Johnson Resolution
B) The Emancipation Proclamation
C) The Confiscation Act
D) The Fort Sumter Resupply

Question 10

Which of the following developments occurred as the nation transitioned from World War II to the Cold War?

A) Military spending began a protracted decline.
B) The number of military personnel shrunk to pre-WWII levels.
C) The nation entered a period of ongoing national emergency and the creation of a national security state.
D) The League of Nations was approved.