Here's a straight factual list of U.S presidents who used military force without first going to Congress for a declaration of war or a new AUMF Name, date(s), action. No spin. Harry S. Truman 1950 - Entered the Korean War under UN authority, no congressional authorization Dwight D. Eisenhower 1958 - Deployed U.5. troops to Lebanon Operation Blue Bat), no Congress vote. John F. Kennedy 1961 - Bay of Pigs invasion (Cuba), covert military action, no Congress. 1962- Cuban Missile Crisis naval blockade 'quarantine"), no Congress Lyndon B. Johnson 1964-1965- Maior Vietnam War escalation under Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (not a declaration of war)Richard Nixon
1969-1973 - Cambodia
and Laos
bombings, expanded Vietnam
War, na new
authorization. Gerald Ford
1975 - Mayaquez
incident (Cambodia)
military operation, no Congress
rescue Ronald Reagan
1983 - Invasion of Grenada, no prior
congressional approval.
1986 - Airstrikes on Libya, no
Congress authorization. George H. W. Bush 1989 - Invasion of Panama, no
declaration of war (authorization came after) Bill Clinton 1995 - Bosnia air campaign NATO action, no Congress vote 1998 - Operation Desert Fox (Irag airstrikes), no Congressairstrikes), no Congress 1 999 - Kosovo bombing campaign, na Congress authorization George W. Bush 2001-ongoing - Global military actions under 2001 AUMF far beyond original scope no new authorizations for expansions) Barack Obama 2011 - Libya air war, no congressiona authorization. 2014-2016 - ISIS strikes in Svria, relied on 2001 AUMF Donald Trump 2017 - Svria missile strikes, no Congress authorization. 2020 - Iranian General Soleimani strike, no congress approval Joe Biden 2021-2024 - Airstrikes in Syria, Iraq- Yemen, relied on Article I1 prior AUMFs. Bottom line (no opinion, just historyCongress has not declared war since 1941 • Presidents have bypassed Congress for military action for ~75 years • This is systemic, bipartisan, and normalized
