Presidents, War, and Foreign Policy
Power Beyond America’s Shores
War & Foreign Policy
Presidential leadership in war, diplomacy, national defense, territorial expansion, alliances, and America’s relationship with the world. We judge not only battlefield results, but constitutional authority, human costs, declared objectives, and the peace that followed.
Featured Constitutional Investigation
Which Presidents Took America to War Without a Declaration of War?
The Constitution gives Congress the authority to declare war, yet presidents have repeatedly committed American forces without a formal declaration. When did this practice begin, and how did it transform the presidency?
Examine the RecordExplore War and Foreign Policy
War and Military Command
Deployments, military strategy, generals, civilian control, and wartime leadership.
02Diplomacy and Treaties
Negotiations, treaties, summits, recognition, mediation, and peaceful settlements.
03Presidential Doctrines
The principles presidents announced to define threats, commitments, and national strategy.
04Expansion and Territory
Louisiana, Texas, Oregon, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, and overseas possessions.
05Intelligence and Security
Espionage, covert operations, surveillance, terrorism, and nuclear command.
06Alliances and Global Leadership
NATO, the United Nations, coalitions, foreign aid, deterrence, and collective defense.
Five Cornerstone Investigations
Which Presidents Went to War Without a Declaration?
From Korea and Vietnam to modern interventions, presidential practice has moved beyond formal declarations.
Investigation coming soonWorld War IIWas Truman Right to Use the Atomic Bomb?
Military necessity, alternatives, projected casualties, diplomacy, and the moral burden of nuclear war.
Investigation coming soonNuclear CrisisWhy Did Kennedy Reject an Immediate Attack?
The Cuban Missile Crisis tested intelligence, restraint, military advice, and secret diplomacy.
Investigation coming soonCold WarWhy Did Reagan Call the Soviet Union an Evil Empire?
Moral clarity, nuclear strategy, ideological conflict, and negotiations with a hostile superpower.
Investigation coming soonWar on TerrorWas the Invasion of Iraq Justified?
Intelligence, preventive war, congressional authorization, military victory, and the unstable aftermath.
Investigation coming soonEras of American Foreign Policy
Neutrality and Independence
- Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation
- Jay Treaty and the Quasi-War
- Barbary conflict and War of 1812
- The Monroe Doctrine
Expansion Across the Continent
- Texas and the Oregon boundary
- The Mexican-American War
- Civil War diplomacy
- The purchase of Alaska
Empire and Progressive Diplomacy
- Spanish-American War
- Hawaii and the Philippines
- Panama Canal and “Big Stick” policy
- Dollar Diplomacy
World Wars and Internationalism
- Wilson and the First World War
- League of Nations debate
- Interwar neutrality
- Pearl Harbor, Allied strategy, and atomic war
Containment and Nuclear Rivalry
- Truman Doctrine and NATO
- Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam
- Nixon’s opening to China
- Reagan and the Soviet Union
The Post-Cold War World
- Persian Gulf War
- Somalia and Rwanda
- Bosnia and Kosovo
- NATO enlargement
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Terrorism
- The September 11 attacks
- The Bush Doctrine
- Drone warfare and counterterrorism
- Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Great Powers and Global Disorder
- China and the Indo-Pacific
- Russia and European security
- Middle Eastern alliances
- Sanctions, trade, and technology
Presidential Doctrines
Monroe Doctrine
Opposed new European colonization and interference in the Western Hemisphere.
1947Truman Doctrine
Committed support to countries resisting armed minorities or outside pressure.
1957Eisenhower Doctrine
Offered assistance to Middle Eastern nations threatened by international communism.
1969Nixon Doctrine
Expected allies to assume more responsibility for their own conventional defense.
1980Carter Doctrine
Declared that outside control of the Persian Gulf would threaten vital American interests.
1980sReagan Doctrine
Supported resistance movements opposing Soviet-backed governments.
2002Bush Doctrine
Advanced preventive action against terrorist threats and hostile regimes.
Comparative guideHow Doctrines Become Policy
Compare the threat, authority, implementation, results, and legacy of each doctrine.
Compare Presidential Strategies
Washington vs. Wilson
Two presidents confronting American involvement in European conflict.
Expansion Through WarPolk vs. McKinley
Continental acquisition compared with the rise of overseas power.
Entering World WarsWilson vs. Roosevelt
Neutrality, preparation, provocation, and the timing of intervention.
Containing CommunismTruman vs. Eisenhower
Conventional war, alliances, covert action, and nuclear deterrence.
The Soviet UnionKennedy vs. Reagan
Crisis management, military strength, negotiation, and ideological pressure.
VietnamJohnson vs. Nixon
Escalation, withdrawal, bombing, credibility, and the search for an exit.
Two Iraq WarsGeorge H. W. vs. George W. Bush
Limited coalition objectives compared with regime change and occupation.
Modern StrategyTrump vs. Biden
Alliances, deterrence, withdrawal, sanctions, trade, and great-power rivalry.
Commander-in-Chief Scorecard
Winning Battles Is Not Enough
A sound judgment must consider the legal basis, strategy, costs, candor, and political outcome—not military performance alone.
Our standard: Military action should not be judged only by whether the United States won its battles. Constitutional authority, stated objectives, human costs, diplomacy, honesty, and the peace that followed must also be considered.
Our Foreign-Policy Standard
Every Use of Power Requires an Accounting
We judge leaders with the evidence available to them at the time while still measuring the consequences that followed.
- What threat or opportunity confronted the president?
- What intelligence was available at the time?
- What peaceful alternatives were attempted?
- What authority did Congress provide?
- What objectives did the president establish?
- Were those objectives realistically achievable?
- What costs fell on Americans and foreign civilians?
- Did the policy strengthen American security?
- What unintended consequences followed?
- Did the president leave a workable end state?
Power Beyond America’s Shores
Strength Must Be Joined to Strategy and Restraint
A president must defend the nation without confusing action with strategy, military victory with lasting peace, or executive speed with unlimited authority.