This presentation focuses on Congressman Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) and Senator Barack Obama’s (D-IL) similar views on the Constitution’s war powers while they served in Congress, and follows with an analysis of how these perspectives evolved once they each became commander in chief. This presentation will also address how the power of the commander in chief has changed in American history, which includes discussion of recent American conflicts in Libya, the United States’ use of drone warfare, and the ongoing conflict now against the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL). Such sweeping powers of the commander in chief, which are now commonly accepted from many in Congress and the American public, were initially advanced by President Lincoln during the Civil War.
Ryan Hendrickson serves as interim dean of the Graduate School and is professor of political science at Eastern. He is the author of Obama at War: Congress and the Imperial Presidency (University of Kentucky Press, 2015), Diplomacy and War at NATO (University of Missouri Press, 2006) and The Clinton Wars (Vanderbilt University Press, 2002). He received his B.A. from Marquette University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
