Polsky's "Presidency at War" - Essay Example

Presidency at War The thesis ment of Andrew Polsky’s “Presidency at War” is the role of the congress, judiciary, andpublic, in relation to presidential decision-making concerning military intervention. Polsky criticizes the “two presidency thesis” that separates presidential decisions on domestic and foreign policy. Foreign policy eventually has an effect on domestic policy, and for that reason, decision-making concerning war should consider such factors. Besides, there are several resources required in the process of war because of its associated challenges.

A careful scrutiny of historical wartime events shows that the cost of war and the loss of lives fail to justify the necessity of war. An important point to note in Andrew Polsky’s article is that commanders-in-chief often fail miserably when they try to control wartime events. Through case studies of inhabitants of the White House, Polsky confirms that no result of a war has satisfied a wartime presidents ambitions. Another important point that Polsky puts across is that the constitution is unclear concerning such clauses as Article IV, which does not specify which branch is responsible to repel invasions.

In lieu to this, the constitution fails to provide a coherent definition of concepts such as ‘invasion’, and hence one cannot know whether it means armed conflict and a formal state of war (Polsky 559).Polsky evidences President Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War era who famously asserted that events controlled his actions, rather than his actions controlling events. In addition, he exemplifies Barrack Obama, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson and their overestimation of power as commander-in-chief.

Polsky points out that presidential leadership during times of war requires guidance from varied policymakers, failure of which they put Americans at risk of the associated disadvantages of war. This calls for a change in strategy and an integration of congressional, judicial, and public opinion in decision-making. Work CitedPolsky, Andrew. The Presidency at War. Congressional Quarterly Inc. 2006.