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The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed and granted the US permanent possession of the Panama Canal Zone. By doing so, TR took lead in developing the international power of the US, increasing the executive power of the president to some extent. -
WW requested a declaration of war against Germany from Congress. He claimed that this was “a war to end all wars” and intervention would “make the world safe for democracy. WWI allowed Wilson to take an executive role in foreign affairs. -
After the Great Depression and WWII, FDR went through a series of reformations called the New Deal. This program regulated the economy giving FDR power, and the war required him to lead the country in international affairs.
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The cold war was a political rivalry between two world superpowers: USA and USSR. The constant fear brought forward by the war increased the country’s reliance on the president. -
Harry S Truman entered the Korean conflict without needing the approval of Congress. Truman described the deployment of forces as an action in conjunction with the UN. This set the precedent that the president may take the country to war without a Congressional declaration. -
In 1954, Eisenhower withhold any internal documents and blocked officials from giving testimony to other branches of government in an attempt to protect government files from Sen. McCarthy. Eisenhower asserted this as a right of the executive branch. -
JFK allowed 1400 Cuban exiles trained and equipped by the CA to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. This was considered to be a big expansion of the president’s power. Although Kennedy failed to invade Cuba, his approval ratings still increased, allowing him to exercise his expanded power more freely. -
This strengthened Kennedy’s and the public’s affinity for unilateral executive control of foreign policy -
The issue of the Vietnam War fell into LBJ’s hands. He has assumed like other presidents, that the outcome of war and peace had become the president’s decision. The resolution allowed Johnson to take any measure necessary to protect the US without Congress having to formally declare war.