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Lesson

Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the War Powers Resolution

Guiding question

Did the War Powers Resolution take too much power away from the President, or did it take too much power away from Congress?

Duration
95 min
Grade
9–12
Published
Jun 28, 2021
Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon
Beginning in 1812 and for the next hundred years, US Presidents asked for and received congressional declarations of war against England, Mexico, Spain, Japan, and European powers. During the Cold War, President Harry Truman sent troops to Korea as part of a UN force without a congressional declaration of war. President John F. Kennedy sent troops to defend South Vietnam. Congress never declared war, but years later passed the Tonkin Resolution authorizing President Lyndon Johnson to use force against North Vietnam. In reaction to US involvement in Vietnam, Congress passed the War Powers Act which limited the President’s authority to commit American troops abroad without Congress’s approval. The law was passed over the veto of President Richard Nixon, who argued the law was an abridgement of the President’s authority as Commander in Chief. The Act raises the questions: How far does the President’s power as Commander in Chief extend? And, how much of that power can be limited by Congress?

Founding Principles

Checks and Balances, Separation of Powers

Objectives:

Students will:

  • Understand events leading up to passage of the War Powers Resolution.
  • Assess the meaning of constitutional provisions about war.
  • Evaluate the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution.

Materials

  • Handout A: Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the War Powers Resolution
  • Handout B: War and the Constitutional Convention
  • Handout C: The War Powers Resolution
  • Handout D: War with Svovenia?
  • Handout E: Debate Identity SlipsTo create a context for
    this lesson, students
    complete Constitutional
    Connection: War and
    the Constitution.

Lesson Components

ActivityHandout A: Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the War Powers Resolution
ActivityHandout B: War and the Constitutional Convention
ActivityHandout C: The War Powers Resolution
ActivityHandout D: War with Svovenia
ActivityHandout E: Debate Identity Slips (War Powers Resolution)
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Lesson plan

95 minClick a phase to open it

More Information

To create a context for this lesson, students complete Constitutional Connection: War and the Constitution.

Standards

Check whether this resource aligns with your state’s standards →

Related materials

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LessonWar and Constitutional Separation of Powers

The U.S. Constitution divides war powers between the president and Congress. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were focused on creating a government powerful enough to protect liberty, but not so powerful that it would threaten liberty. They worked carefully to craft the war powers of the new government, knowing that history was full of examples of war, so that war powers were necessary, but also of rulers who had abused the power and endangered liberty in order to make war.

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VideoThe Politics of War Powers with Sarah Burns | BRI Scholar Talks

How has the president been able to decide when the United States goes to war without Congress deliberating and declaring war? In this video, BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams and Associate Professor of Political Science at Rochester Institute of Technology, Sarah Burns, discuss her new book, "The Politics of War Powers: The Theory and History of Presidential Unilateralism." What is the proper constitutional balance between the Congress and presidency when it comes to war powers? What might the remedy be for restoring the balance and the separation of powers?