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Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the declaration of war against Japan on December 8, 1941.

A declaration of war is a formal declaration issued by a national government indicating that a state of war exists between that nation and another. For the United States, Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution says "Congress shall have power to ... declare War". However, that passage provides no specific format for what form legislation must have in order to be considered a "Declaration of War" nor does the Constitution itself use this term. Many have postulated "Declaration(s) of War" must contain that phrase as or within the title. Others oppose that reasoning. The postulate has not been tested in court. This article will use the term "formal Declaration of War" to mean Congressional legislation that uses the phrase "Declaration of War" in the title.

The United States has formally declared war against foreign nations five separate times, each upon prior request by the President of the United States. James Madison reported that in the Federal Convention of 1787, the phrase "make war" was changed to "declare war" in order to leave to the Executive the power to repel sudden attacks but not to commence war without the explicit approval of Congress.^[1] Debate continues as to the legal extent of the President's authority in this regard.

After Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in January of 1971 and President Richard Nixon continued to wage war in Vietnam, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution (Pub.L. 93-148) over the veto of Nixon in an attempt to reign in some of the president's claimed powers. Today, Congress recognizes no claimed power of the president to wage war outside of the War Powers Resolution.

Declarations of war

Formal

In the United States, only the U.S. Congress may declare war.

The table below lists the only five wars in which the United States has formally declared war against foreign nations. The only country against which the United States has declared war more than once is Germany, against which the United States has declared war twice (though a case could be made for Hungary as a successor state to Austria-Hungary).

In World War II, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on the previous day, Germany and Italy, led by Hitler and Mussolini, declared war on America, and the U.S. Congress responded in kind.^[2][3]

War or conflict	Opponent(s)	Initial authorization	Votes		President	Conclusion
			Senate	House
War of 1812	United Kingdom	June 18, 1812	19-13	79-49	Madison	Treaty of Ghent (December 24, 1814)
Mexican-American War	Mexico	May 13, 1846	40-2	173-14	Polk	Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848)
Spanish-American War	Spain	April 25, 1898	42-35	310-6	McKinley	Treaty of Paris (December 10, 1898)
World War I	Germany	April 6, 1917	82-6	373-50	Wilson	Treaty of Berlin (August 25, 1921)
	Austria-Hungary	December 7, 1917	74-0	365-1		Treaty of Trianon (in part)
World War II	Japan	December 8, 1941	82-0	388-1	Roosevelt, Truman	V-J Day, Japanese Instrument of Surrender (September 2, 1945), Treaty of San Francisco (September 8, 1951)
	Germany	December 11, 1941	88-0	393-0		V-E Day, Unconditional German Surrender, (May 8, 1945), Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (September 12, 1990), Treaty of Vienna with Austria (May 15, 1955)
	Italy		90-0	399-0		Paris Peace Treaty (February 10, 1947)
	Bulgaria	June 5, 1942	73-0	357-0
	Hungary			360-0
	Romania			361-0

Military engagements authorized by Congress

In other instances, the United States has engaged in extended military combat that were authorized by Congress, but short of a formal declaration of war.

War or conflict	Opponent(s)	Initial authorization	Votes		President	Conclusion
			Senate	House
Quasi-War	France	Act Further to Protect the Commerce of the United States July 9, 1798			John Adams	Convention of 1800 (Treaty of Mortefontaine)
First Barbary War	Barbary pirates	1801			Thomas Jefferson	1805
Second Barbary War	Barbary pirates	1815			James Madison	1816
enforcing 1808 slave trade ban; naval squadron sent to African waters to apprehend illegal slave traders	slave traders (pirates)	"Act in addition to the acts prohibiting the Slave Trade" 1819			James Monroe	1822 first African-American settlement founded in Liberia, 1823 US Navy stops anti-trafficing raids
Redress for attack on U.S. Navy vessel	Paraguay	1859[citation needed]			James Buchanan
Intervention during the Russian Civil War	Russia	1918[citation needed]			Woodrow Wilson
Lebanon crisis of 1958	Lebanese Rebels	1958[citation needed]			Dwight D. Eisenhower
Vietnam War	Viet Cong  North Vietnam	Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, August 7, 1964	88-2	416-0	John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon	American Force withdrew in 1975.
Multinational Force in Lebanon	Shia and Druze miltias; Syria	S.J.R. 159 September 29, 1983	54-46	253-156	Ronald Reagan	Force withdrew in 1984
Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm	Iraq	H.R.J. Res. 77 January 12, 1991	52-47	250-183	George H. W. Bush	The United Nations Security Council drew up terms for the cease-fire, April 3, 1991
2001 war in Afghanistan, also known as Operation Enduring Freedom	Afghanistan al-Qaeda	S.J. Res. 23 September 14, 2001	98-0	420-1	George W. Bush Barack Obama	Ongoing
Iraq War, also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom	Iraq	H.J. Res. 114, October 16, 2002	77-23	296-133		Ongoing

Military engagements authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolutions

In many instances, the United States has engaged in extended military engagements that were authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

Military Engagement	Opponent(s)	Initial Authorization	President	Conclusion
Korean War	North Korea  People's Republic of China	UNSCR 84, 1950	Harry S. Truman	Armistice, 1953
Multinational Force in Lebanon	Shia militia, Druze miltia, Syria	UNSCR 425, 1978 UNSCR 426, 1978	Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan	US forces withdrew in 1984
Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm	Iraq	UNSCR 678, 1990	George H. W. Bush	UNSCR 689, 1991
Bosnian War also known as UNPROFOR	Croatia  Serbia	UNSCR 770, 1992 UNSCR 776, 1992 UNSCR 836, 1993	Bill Clinton	Reflagged as IFOR in 1995, Reflagged as SFOR in 1996, Completed in 2004
2001 war in Afghanistan, also known as Operation Enduring Freedom	Afghanistan al-Qaeda	UNSCR 1368, 2001 UNSCR 1378, 2001	George W. Bush Barack Obama	Ongoing
Second Liberian Civil War	Peacekeeping	UNSCR 1497, 2003	George W. Bush	US Forces withdraw in 2003 after UNMIL is established
Haiti, also known as MINUSTAH	Peacekeeping	UNSCR 1529, 2004 UNSCR 1542, 2004	George W. Bush	2004

Other undeclared wars

On at least 125 occasions, the President has acted without prior express military authorization from Congress.^[4] These include instances in which the United States fought in Korea in 1950, the Philippine-American War from 1898-1903, and in Nicaragua in 1927.

The United States' longest war was fought between approximately 1840 and 1886 against the Apache Nation. During that entire 46-year period, there were never more than 90 days of "peace."

The Indian Wars comprise at least 28 conflicts and engagements. These began with Europeans immigration to North America, long before the establishment of the United States. For the purpose of this discussion, the Indian Wars are defined as conflicts with the United States of America. They begin as one front in the American Revolutionary War in 1775 and are generally agreed upon as concluding with the surrender of the Apache chief Geronimo in 1886.

The American Civil War was not a true war in the sense that the Union Government held the position that secession from the Union was illegal and military force was used to restore the union by defeating in battle the military forces of the illegally rebelling states. No Southern ambassador or diplomat was accorded any status by the Union so an armistice or peace treaty was never an option because that would legitimize the Confederacy as an actual Nation. The legal right for armed force lay with the Constitution of the United States, which the Union interpreted as unbreakable. The actions of the Southern states were therefore illegal (according to the Union) because they were attempting to drop the Union as their form of Government, which is considered rebellion or insurrection.

The War Powers Resolution

In 1973, following the withdrawal of most American troops from the Vietnam War, a debate emerged about the extent of presidential power in deploying troops without a declaration of war. A compromise in the debate was reached with the War Powers Resolution. This act clearly defined how many soldiers could be deployed by the President of the United States and for how long. It also required formal reports by the President to Congress regarding the status of such deployments, and limited the total amount of time that American forces could be employed without a formal declaration of war.

Although the constitutionality of the act has never been tested, it is usually followed, most notably during the Grenada Conflict, the Panamanian Conflict, the Somalia Conflict, the Gulf War, and the Iraq War. The only exception was President Clinton's use of U.S. troops in the 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbia during the Kosovo War.^{[citation needed]} In all other cases, the President asserted the constitutional authority to commit troops without the necessity of Congressional approval, but in each case the President received Congressional authorization that satisfied the provisions of the War Powers Act.

See also

• Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq
• Declaration of war
• War on Terrorism
• List of United States military history events
• Police action

References

External links

• The House of Rep, Republican Study Committee of War and Military Authorized Conflicts. 2003.
• Declarations of war and votes
• Text of Declaration of War on Japan
• Text of Declaration of War on Germany
• Text of Declaration of War on Bulgaria
• Authorization for Use of Military Force — signed September 18, 2001
• House Joint Resolution Authorizing Use of Force Against Iraq — signed October 16, 2002
• Instances of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798–1993
• A partial list of U.S. military interventions from 1890 to 2006
• U.S.-Africa Chronology