Thread by @marydudziak

How, exactly, did Harry Truman decide to bypass Congress in the Korean War?
Find out today at my Philip Pro Lecture in Legal History: The War Powers Pivot: How Congress Lost its Power in Korea 1/ law.unlv.edu/event/philip-p…

I ask: what was the process for deciding to go to war w/o Congress in Korea? What were the consequences? The process should fit the consequences. 2/

I pay close attention to what happened w/in the administration, and the UN Security Council during the first days of the war. Spoiler alert: not a pretty picture of presidential leadership. 3/

For consequences I examine the on the ground experience of combatants and civilians. The first days were chaotic & brutal. Later decisions had catastrophic effects on Korean civilians, and also soldiers. 4/

A consequence of tremendous implications was a hastily written State Dept memo - offered up when Truman continually put off going to Congress. It has had a powerful afterlife, relied on by countless presidents as authority for unilateral presidential war power. 5/

I argue that Korea was a crucial war powers pivot point. Never again would Congress formally declare war & the historical example of Korea became a justification for more of the same.
What about all those AUMFs? Stay tuned for next chapter... 6/ end