Other than then Obama, it was said every potus start a war. Potus really has limited power. Starting war is the only way to have power. Power corrupt ... once you have a taste ... even if it is in the interest of USA in a sense.
Obama is also the only 2 term president who has been at war for his entire time. It is also hard to Obama didn't start a war. During his term, we had: Libya, Iraq (2014-), Syria, and Sudan (among other conflicts that I am sure I am forgetting). We can certainly argue about how much the US "started" those wars; some were from NATO (in which the US is major player), and some were clearly the US getting involved in an external war.
Also, the president does not have the authority to start a war; that is delagated to congress. Of course, by that standard the US hasn't had a war since WWII.
>Also, the president does not have the authority to start a war; that is delagated to congress. Of course, by that standard the US hasn't had a war since WWII
There’s a lot to unpack there, from congressional abdication of their responsibility of oversight to the changing nature of warfare.
But I would note that congress hasn’t entirely abdicated its oversight role in declaring war, modern congresses pass an “Authorization for Use of Military Force”, or the AUMF as it’s called, to find and detail their approval for military action.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 24.4 ms ] threadAlso, the president does not have the authority to start a war; that is delagated to congress. Of course, by that standard the US hasn't had a war since WWII.
There’s a lot to unpack there, from congressional abdication of their responsibility of oversight to the changing nature of warfare.
But I would note that congress hasn’t entirely abdicated its oversight role in declaring war, modern congresses pass an “Authorization for Use of Military Force”, or the AUMF as it’s called, to find and detail their approval for military action.